[00:00:24] >> CLERK: CHAIR, WE HAVE A QUORUM. >> PELAEZ: THANK YOU. COUNCILWOMAN ROCHA GARCIA WAS OUTSIDE REVIEWING THE MINUTES OF OUR OCTOBER 22, 2024 MEETING. COUNCILWOMAN, YOU GOT ANY THOUGHTS ABOUT THAT? >> SAY AYE. THAT WAS UNANIMOUS. SORRY. COUNCILWOMAN VIAGRAN, WELCOME TO THE MEETING. I'M SORRY. I DIDN'T SEE YOU THERE BEHIND MY SHOULDER. RIGHT NOW WE HAVE A BRIEFING AND A DISCUSSION ON FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT ACTIVITIES. JUST AS A WAY OF REMINDER, THE LAST TIME WE DISCUSSED OUR GUIDELINES, THIS IS SOMETHING COUNCILMAN WHYTE YOU BROUGHT UP, AND THE REST OF THE COMMITTEE AGREED, THAT REVISITING OUR FDI STRATEGY WAS A GOOD IDEA. IF IT GOES WELL TODAY, IT'S ALL COUNCILMAN WHYTE'S -- HE GETS THE CREDIT. IF IT GOES TERRIBLY, HE GETS THE BLAME. >> THIS IS GOING TO BE A LITTLE BIT OF A TEAM EFFORT SO I THINK ALFRED IS GOING TO KICK US OFF THOUGH. >> THANK YOU. GOOD AFTERNOON, COMMITTEE. THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING US THE OPPORTUNITY TO TALK ABOUT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT AND GREATER SATX'S EFFORTS TOWARDS ATTRACTING FDI AND GETTING TO SEE SOME OF THOSE RESULTS. SO ATTRACTING FDI REQUIRES A DATA-DRIVEN APPROACH. PROACTIVE APPROACH AND TARGETED STRATEGIES. THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT AND ITS PARTNERS HAVE PUT TOGETHER THOSE STRATEGIES. THE EDD STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK HAS ONE AND IS A GUIDE FOR US TOWARDS ATTRACTING FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT. THE STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK ALSO UPHOLDS THE METRO PRIORITY PLAN. THE PLAN IS THE CITY'S INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY AND IT OUTLINES TARGETED INDUSTRIES AND TARGETED MARKETS FOR US TO FOCUS LIMITED RESOURCES IN ORDER TO HAVE HIGHER RETURNS ON OUR FDI ATTRACTION EFFORTS. WITHIN THAT METRO PRIORITY PLAN THAT WAS USED, IT WAS DEVELOPED IN 2017 TO '19 AND IMPLEMENTED IN 2020. IT IDENTIFIED THESE TARGET MARKETS. METRO PRIORITY PLAN WAS BASED ON THE PREVIOUS WORK AND WE'RE CURRENTLY IN THE PROCESS OF UPDATING THAT PROCESS AND LOOKING AT POSSIBLY EXPANDING TO REGIONS. SO AT THIS TIME WE'RE FOCUSED IN CANADA, GERMANY, JAPAN, KOREA, AND MEXICO. WE DO HAVE ADDITIONAL RELATIONSHIPS BASED ON OUR CURRENT DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS. AND THOSE ARE INCLUDED THERE THAT WE'RE USING TO BUILD OFF OF AND ATTRACT FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT. TO SUPPORT THIS EFFORT IN ATTRACTING FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT, WE HAVE EVOLVED CASA SAN ANTONIO. CASA SAN ANTONIO USED TO BE A OUR OFFICES IN SAN ANTONIO WHERE WE HELPED LOCAL COMPANIES EXPAND INTO MEXICO. AFTER 30 YEARS OF FOCUSING ON THAT, WE DECIDED TO ALIGN IT WITH THE STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK AND FOCUS WITH GOAL NUMBER ONE OF ATTRACTING FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT. SO WE HAVE TAKEN THOSE FUNDS AND FOCUSED THEM NARROWLY ON FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT. WE HAVE EXPANDED THE SCOPE BEYOND MEXICO TO THE TARGET MARKETS OUTLINED IN THE METRO PRIORITY PLAN AND WE ARE USING THOSE FUNDS TOWARDS FDI ATTRACTION EFFORTS INCLUDING AND PRIMARILY IN-COUNTRY CONSULTANTS. JUST A NOTE ON MEXICO, WE HAVE NOT LEFT MEXICO BUT WE ARE FOCUSED ON MEXICO THROUGH MORE ACTIVITY-BASED AND EVENT-BASED ENGAGEMENTS THROUGHOUT MEXICO. TODAY, WE HAVE CONSULTANTS IN VARIOUS MARKETS BUT WE ARE NOT ABLE TO ACT ON THESE EFFECTIVELY WITHOUT OUR CORE AND LONGSTANDING PARTNER GREATER SATX WHO SERVES AS THE MARKETING AND ATTRACTION HEAD. WITH THIS RIGHT NOW, FUNDS FROM CASA SAN ANTONIO ARE BEING USED IN LATIN AMERICA, JAPAN, KOREA, EUROPE, CANADA, INDIA, AND MEXICO. WITH THAT, WE ARE MAINTAINING THE EDD DEPARTMENT IS MAINTAINING LATIN AMERICA. THOUGH WE ARE COORDINATING WITH, AS WE MENTIONED LAST COMMITTEE MEETING, WITH GREATER SATX ON THOSE FDI EFFORTS. AT THIS MOMENT, GREATER SATX IS THE LEAD ON THE JAPAN CONTRACT. [00:05:04] THEY'RE THE LEAD ON THE KOREA CONTRACT, WHICH WE USED TO LEAD AND HAD TRANSITIONED OVER LAST YEAR. EUROPE, CANADA AND WE ARE JOINING EFFORTS IN MEXICO. INDIA IS NOTED AS BENCHMARKING A ROAD MAP. THERE HAS BEEN INTEREST IN INDIA BUT WE HAVE PUT AN INVESTMENT IN UNDERSTANDING HOW TO APPROACH THAT MARKET IF AND WHEN AND HOW. AND SO THOSE UPDATES ARE FORTHCOMING FOR THIS COMMITTEE. SO, AT THIS TIME I WOULD LIKE TO HAND IT OVER TO OUR PARTNER, GREATER SATX, AND SARAH RUSH TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF THOSE EFFORTS AND HOW THEY HAVE MATERIALIZED. >> THANK YOU, ALFRED. REALLY APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE HERE WITH YOU ALL. WE ARE HONORED TO PARTNER WITH THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO IN THIS WORK AND WE HAVE SOME EXCITING MOMENTUM THAT I'LL BE HAPPY TO SHARE WITH YOU TODAY. ON THE FRONT OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT. WE DO HAVE A COUPLE OF OUR FANTASTIC GREATER SATX TEAM MEMBERS HERE WITH US TODAY, JUST A QUICK SHOUT OUT TO JENA, OUR CEO, AND ROMANITA IS GOING TO BE JOINING US, AND SHIRLEY IS ACTUALLY OUR DIRECTOR OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT. JUST WANT TO RECOGNIZE OUR FANTASTIC TEAM THAT IS HERE. AS YOU ALL KNOW, GREATER SATX IS CHARGED WITH BEING YOUR REGIONAL ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP. WE ARE FOCUSED ON ELEVATING SAN ANTONIO ON THE GLOBAL STAGE IN ORDER TO FURTHER DIVERSIFY OUR REGION'S BUSINESS BASE AND OUR ECONOMY AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, TO DRIVE QUALITY JOBS INTO THE SAN ANTONIO REGION FOR OUR RESIDENTS. AS I'M QUICKLY APPROACHING THREE YEARS NOW IN MY ROLE HERE AS CEDO, I WAS CHARGED WITH REALLY ORIENTING US AND, IN SOME CASES, COMPLTELY OVERHAULING HOW WE ARE WORKING AS AN ORGANIZATION SO THAT WE CAN ACHIEVE GREATER RESULTS, IN PARTICULAR IN QUALITY JOB AND QUALITY CORPORATE ATTRACTION. ULTIMATELY OUR FOCUS ON THIS IS SO WE CAN END GENERATIONS OF POVERTY FOR SAN ANTONIANS. A QUALITY JOB IS A GAME CHANGER FOR FAMILIES. I WANTED TO PULL THIS SLIDE UP. IT DOESN'T SAY ANYTHING. IT'S JUST AN IMAGE BUT I THINK WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT GLOBAL CORPORATE RECRUITMENT AND YOU THINK ABOUT FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT, YOU HAVE TO RECOGNIZE AND REALIZE THAT IT IS A TEAM SPORT. WE ARE ONE SAN ANTONIO WHEN WE GO OUT TO THE WORLD. I HAVE LITERALLY STOOD IN TAXI LINES IN CITIES AROUND THE WORLD, INTRODUCED MYSELF, AND THEY ASK WHERE ARE YOU FROM. I SAY SAN ANTONIO AND THEY SAY, SAN ANTONIO? WHERE IS THAT? IS THAT NEW YORK? THERE'S REALLY NO SENSE OF WHO WE ARE AS A BRAND AND AS A COMMUNITY, PARTICULARLY AS A BUSINESS DESTINATION. AND SO THAT REQUIRES AN EFFORT ON BEHALF OF THIS ENTIRE ORGANIZATION, INCLUDING THE CITY FOCUS. SO THE SISTER CITIES AND DIPLOMACY EFFORTS ARE SUPER IMPORTANT FOR BUILDING THAT GENERAL BRAND AWARENESS AND PERSON TO PERSON CONNECTIVITY. GLOBAL BRANDING IS ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL. SAN ANTONIO NEEDS TO BE KNOWN. WHEN WE TALK ABOUT AIR SERVICE DEVELOPMENT, IF WE CAN'T GET TO A PLACE EASILY, WE'RE NOT AS LIKELY TO WIN DEALS. SO THESE ARE ALL FOCUS AREAS THAT WE HAVE HAD AS AN ORGANIZATION IN PARTNERSHIP WITH EACH OF YOU, AND WE'RE GRATEFUL FOR THAT OPPORTUNITY. ALFRED MENTIONED THE COUNTRIES OF FOCUS WHERE WE WORK AND THOSE DO ALIGN WITH THE METRO PRIORITY PLAN, AS WAS MENTIONED. YOU KNOW, THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS WE HAVE REALLY FOCUSED OUR ATTENTION ON EXPANDING BEYOND MEXICO AND BEYOND JAPAN, WHICH HAD BEEN OUR TWO PRIMARY INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS. AND I THINK WE'VE BEEN DOING SO QUITE SUCCESSFULLY, AS YOU'LL SEE IN THE PIPELINE IN A MINUTE. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS GRAPH, THIS ALSO SHOWS THAT WE ARE ALIGNING EACH OF OUR EFFORTS WITHIN THESE COUNTRIES WITH OUR TARGET INDUSTRIES THAT WE HAVE IDENTIFIED HERE FOR SAN ANTONIO. AND WE HAVE LIMITED RESOURCES, RIGHT, SO WE NEED TO PLAY TO WIN, IN MY OPINION. WE NEED TO GO INTO MARKETS WHERE WE HAVE THOSE OPPORTUNITIES TO BRIDGE OUR STRENGTHS AND OUR OPPORTUNITIES AND EXISTING TIES WITH THE OPPORTUNITIES AND COUNTRIES WHERE THERE ARE ACTIVITY DEALS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF THOSE MARKETS INTO THE UNITED STATES. SO WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT GERMANY AND THE U.K., ADVANCED MANUFACTURING, LIFE SCIENCES, CYBERSECURITY, AND TECH, FINANCIAL AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES, THOSE ARE THE KEY MARKETS. JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA, AGAIN, ADVANCED MANUFACTURING IN BOTH OF THOSE MARKETS, PARTICULARLY HIGH-TECH ELECTRONICS AND [00:10:01] SEMI CONDUCTORS AS WELL AS LIFE SCIENCES. COUNCILMAN PELAEZ, YOU CAN ATTEST TO THE NUMBER OF LIFE SCIENCES MEETINGS THAT WE HAD DURING OUR MISSION TO KOREA TWO WEEKS AGO. THINK ABOUT CANADA AND MEXICO, IN A LOT OF WAYS THOSE ARE LIKE DOMESTIC MARKETS FOR OUR TEAM. THEY'RE EASIER TO GET TO AND THERE'S A LOT OF ALIGNMENT WITH THE STRENGTHS HERE IN SAN ANTONIO. AND WE ARE PROACTIVELY TARGETING MEXICO FOR THOSE U.S. HEADQUARTER OPPORTUNITIES. WE BELIEVE WE'RE A FANTASTIC LANDING SPOT FOR COMPANIES COMING OUT OF MEXICO. I SPOKE TO THIS BRIEFLY BUT JUST WANTED TO GIVE YOU A HIGHLIGHT OF SOME OF THESE AREAS OF FOCUS, JUST A BIT MORE DETAIL. SO GERMANY, WE HAVE A DIRECT FLIGHT NOW TO FRANKFURT. AS YOU ALL KNOW, OUR PRIVATE AIR SERVICE DEVELOPMENT FUND ALLOWED US TO WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH YOUR FABULOUS TEAM AT THE CITY AND THE AIRPORT AND VISIT SAN ANTONIO TO BRING IN A FLIGHT THAT IS OUR FIRST INTO EUROPE. THIS IS REMARKABLE. BIG, BIG NEWS FOR US AND NOW WE REALLY WANT TO MAKE SURE WE ARE SUSTAINING THAT FLIGHT. WE HAVE STRONG EXISTING RELATIONSHIPS WITH GERMANY THROUGH NAVISTAR RECENTLY CHANGED ITS NAME TO INTERNATIONAL. AND THOSE CONNECTION POINTS ARE BUILDING AND BRIDGING OUR RELATIONSHIPS IN GERMANY. AND WE'LL BE BACK IN GERMANY IN JANUARY OF 2025. THE UNITED KINGDOM. AGAIN, WE HAVE A LOT IN COMMON WITH THE U.K. HERE IN TEXAS. IN MY EXPERIENCE, BRITISH COMPANIES LOVE TEXAS. THEY LOVE WHAT WE STAND FOR. THERE'S A LOT OF THAT INDEPENDENCE AND ALIGNMENT THAT THEY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE WITH. AND THEN WE HAVE REALLY STRONG TALENT ALIGNMENTS IN LIFE SCIENCE AND CYBERSECURITY, IN PARTICULAR. AND WE WILL BE ALSO IN U.K. AT THE SAME TIME IN JANUARY OF NEXT YEAR. JCB'S INVESTMENT HERE WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY IS A TREMENDOUS EXAMPLE OF THIS PARTNERSHIP AND WE REALLY WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE SUSTAINING THAT FLIGHT INTO FRANKFURT. IT'S REALLY CRITICAL FOR OUR COMMUNITY AND SO FOR OUR TEAM WE'RE INVESTING HEAVILY IN GERMANY AND THE U.K. SO THAT WE'RE CONTINUING TO SUPPORT THAT EFFORT. IN ASIA, AS I MENTIONED, SOUTH KOREA AND JAPAN ARE OUR TARGET MARKETS AND THERE ARE A LOT OF REASONS FOR THAT. SPENDING TIME IN KOREA, KOREA IS CURRENTLY LEADING ASIAN COUNTRIES IN INVESTMENT INTO THE UNITED STATES. THEY ARE INVESTING HEAVILY IN AUSTIN IN SEMI-CONDUCTOR AND WE'RE SEEING A LOT OF INTEREST AS A RESULT OF THAT INVESTMENT, WHICH IS ALLOWING US TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARE COMING ON THE MARKET, BUT IT NEEDS TO TELL A BROADER STORY BEYOND AUTOMOTIVE AND SEMI-CONDUCTOR. WE ARE REALLY HAVING SOME TREMENDOUS CONVERSATIONS THERE AND PLENTY OF WINS TO FOLLOW. WE WERE JUST THERE IN OCTOBER. WE CONDUCTED 20 MEETINGS DURING THE COURSE OF THAT VISIT AND COUNCILMAN PELAEZ WILL LOVE YOUR COMMENTS ON THAT. YOU'RE STILL TIRED. YOU AND ME BOTH. ON JAPAN, OBVIOUSLY OUR JAPAN RELATIONSHIP IS HISTORIC. IT HAS BEEN IN PLACE FOR MANY YEARS EVEN PRIOR TO THE TOYOTA INVESTMENT IN SAN ANTONIO BUT THE TOYOTA INVESTMENT HERE HAS SOLIDIFIED THE JAPAN RELATIONSHIP. AND SO WE HAVE A LOT OF INTEREST FROM JAPANESE COMPANIES, BOTH IN SOUTH KOREA AND JAPAN, POPULATIONS ARE SHRINKING AND SO BUSINESSES THAT ARE OPERATING IN THOSE MARKETS HAVE TO LOOK OUTSIDE OF THEIR HOME COUNTRIES IN ORDER TO GROW AND EXPAND. SO FROM A FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT ATTRACTION PERSPECTIVE, THESE ARE KEY MARKETS AND TYPICALLY THE PROJECTS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF ASIA ARE WELL VETTED, WELL FUNDED AND THEY ARE LOOKING FOR LONG-TERM INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES. THEY'RE NOT LOOKING TO INVEST FOR THE SHORT TERM, SO WE REALLY SEE A LOT OF POTENTIAL LARGER-JOB PROJECTS IN HIGHER INVESTMENT-LEVEL PROJECTS OUT OF THESE TWO MARKETS. WE WERE MOST RECENTLY IN JAPAN WITH JUDGE SAKAI IN MAY OF THIS YEAR. LOOKING AT THE AMERICAS, AS I MENTIONED IN A LOT OF WAYS CANADA IS MUCH LIKE A DOMESTIC MARKET FOR US IN TERMS OF PROXIMITY AND EASE OF INDUSTRIES ALIGN VERY NATURALLY WITH WHAT CANADA IS STRONG IN. WE TYPICALLY SEE SOMEWHAT SMALLER MORE ENTREPRENEURIAL VENTURES COMING OUT OF CANADA BUT THERE ARE REALLY STRONG DEALS, PARTICULARLY WITHIN AEROSPACE AND SOME OF THOSE DEFENSE-FOCUSED ALIGNMENTS AND NEW ENERGY AS WELL. AND JENNA WAS ACTUALLY IN MONTREAL FOR US LAST WEEK WITH A CONFERENCE CALLED N [00:15:08] CYBER AND IT IS A LARGE SECURITY CONFERENCE COMING TO SAN ANTONIO IN 2025 . VERY EXCITED ABOUT THAT. THAT WAS A RECRUITMENT EFFORT BETWEEN OUR ORGANIZATION AND VISIT SAN ANTONIO TO DRAW THEIR INTEREST IN A TARGET INDUSTRY SECTOR FOR US AND BRING THIS LARGE CONFERENCE AND THE BUSINESSES THAT ATTEND THAT CONFERENCE HERE TO SAN ANTONIO NEXT YEAR. OF COURSE, MEXICO, HUGE TRADE PARTNER FOR US. PROXIMITY IS TREMENDOUS AND OUR PARTNERSHIP, PARTICULARLY WITHIN THE AUTOMOTIVE CLUSTER IS CRUCIAL. WITH NORTHERN MEXICO AND SAN ANTONIO, THERE'S SO MUCH ALIGNMENT AND PARTNERSHIP THAT WE DO. EVERYTHING FROM WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS. WE SEE UTSA AND ALAMO COLLEGES PARTNERING IN MEXICO. AND THERE'S A LOT THAT WE BUILD ON THROUGH THAT. BUT EVEN MORE SO OUR TEAM IS FOCUSED ON HELPING OUR SAN ANTONIO-BASED COMPANIES THAT WANT TO BE DOING BUSINESS ABROAD TO ENTER THE MEXICO MARKET. IT'S A GREAT PLACE FOR COMPANIES TO START LEARNING HOW TO EXPORT AND BUILDING THOSE EXPORT SKILLS AND THEN BEING ABLE TO GROW THEIR BUSINESS HERE IN SAN ANTONIO THROUGH THAT PROCESS. SO THAT'S A TREMENDOUS PROGRAM THAT OUR ORGANIZATION HAS RUN FOR A LONG TIME NOW. AS WE LOOK AHEAD, USMCA, WHICH IS THE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE U.S., MEXICO, AND CANADA, WILL BE REVIEWED IN 2026. AND SO WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE POSITIONED AS A REGION, AS A COMMUNITY TO MAKE SURE THAT PROGRAM IS RENEWED AND THAT IT IS STRENGTHENED SO THAT WE HAVE CONTINUOUS TRADE AND THE STRENGTH OF THAT TRADE BETWEEN CANADA, MEXICO, AND THE UNITED STATES. I MENTIONED AIR SERVICE DEVELOPMENT BRIEFLY. THESE ARE SOME OF THE WINS THAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO ANNOUNCE AND, OF COURSE, THIS IS ALL THROUGH THE PARTNERSHIP OF THIS BODY AND THIS ORGANIZATION. BUT WE MUST SUSTAIN INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS IF WE'RE GOING TO WIN IN FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT. AND SO INVESTMENTS IN THE AIRPORT ARE ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL. SO QUICKLY WE'RE GOING TO TAKE A PEEK INTO OUR ACTIVITY AND PIPELINE OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS. WE'VE TALKED A LOT ABOUT OUR PRIMARY MARKETS BUT WE HAVE BEEN VERY BUSY IN ACTIVATING IN THESE KEY MARKETS OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS. SO WE HAVE LED SEVEN INTERNATIONAL MARKETING MISSIONS OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS. WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PARTNER WITH ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE OR PRIVATE MARKETING ORGANIZATIONS FOR THE STATE OF TEXAS TO BE IN MARKET AND TELL OUR STORY IN COMBINATION WITH OUR PARTNERS AT THE STATE. WE'VE HOSTED AT LEAST TEN INTERNATIONAL DELEGATIONS HERE IN SAN ANTONIO THAT ARE BUSINESS-FOCUSED DELEGATIONS. WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ATTEND A VARIETY OF CONFERENCES AND OF COURSE OUR EXPORT LEADERS ACTIVATION, AS I MENTIONED BEFORE. AND ARE REALLY FOCUSING AND LEANING INTO INDUSTRIAL-FOCUSED CONFERENCES GLOBALLY WHERE WE CAN GAIN BETTER ACCESS AND INSIGHTS INTO OUR TARGET INDUSTRIES AND GAIN ACCESS TO THOSE COMPANIES. WE DO MANAGE, AS ALFRED MENTIONED, THE LEAD GENERATION CONTRACTS THAT YOU SEE THERE. AND WE ARE CONTINUING TO GROW THOSE LEAD GENERATION EFFORTS THROUGH THOSE PARTNERS. AND WE SEE A LOT OF ACTIVITY OUT OF EACH OF THOSE. KOREA HAS BEEN REALLY OUR STRONGEST PERFORMING MARKET OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS. WE HAVE A VERY SUCCESSFUL TRIP COMING TOGETHER FOR EUROPE IN JANUARY. IT'S LOOKING LIKE WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A LOT OF STRONG LEADS COME OUT OF THAT FOR THIS UPCOMING TRIP. AND THESE ARE THE COMPANIES THAT WE SUPPORTED THROUGH OUR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, WHICH IS ESSENTIALLY A SOFT LANDING PROGRAM FOR INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES THAT ARE COMING INTO THE MARKET AND ARE WANTING TO GAIN, YOU KNOW, INSIGHTS AND ACCESS TO COMPANIES FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PURPOSES. MAYBE THEY NEED AN ADDRESS HERE IN THE REGION AS THEY'RE GETTING THEIR BUSINESS SET UP. SO WE HAVE A VARIETY OF WAYS THAT WE SUPPORT THEM THROUGH THAT PROCESS. THIS TENDS TO BE MID-SIZED BUSINESSES. SMALL TO MID-SIZED BUSINESSES. ALL RIGHT. SO LET'S LOOK AT OUR LEAD CATEGORY TODAY. SO YOU CAN SEE HERE WITHIN OUR ACTIVE LEADS, LOOKING BY COUNTRY, THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA IS OUTPERFORMING BY A LONG SHOT HERE. KOREA, WE HAVE SOME ACTIVE LEADS. THESE ARE COMPANIES THAT ARE ACTIVELY CONSIDERING INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES. BUT MAYBE THEY DON'T QUITE HAVE THE PROJECT SCOPED OUT. WE'RE STILL WORKING WITH THEM AND TRYING TO BE ON THE FRONT END OF THEIR DECISION [00:20:06] MAKING. BEFORE THEY KNOW THEY HAVE A PROJECT WE'RE TRYING TO GET AHEAD OF THAT. 35 ACTIVE LEADS THAT SHIRLEY IS HELPING US TO MANAGE AND WORK. YOU CAN SEE THERE THE UNITED KINGDOM, GERMANY, JAPAN, AND MEXICO, THOSE WOULD MAKE SENSE THEY ARE AT THE TOP OF OUR LIST BECAUSE THOSE ARE THE LOCATIONS WHERE WE'RE INVESTING HEAVILY. AND THE SAME CAN BE TRUE ON ALL OF OUR LEADS. SO THIS INCLUDES EVERYTHING FROM UNQUALIFIED, WHICH MEANS WE KNOW ABOUT A COMPANY. WE'RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IS OUR STRATEGY FOR GETTING INTO THAT COMPANY THROUGH TO WHAT WE CALL PURSUIT, WHICH IS OUR EFFORT TO GET IN FRONT OF THAT COMPANY, FIND THE RIGHT CONTACTS, ET CETERA, ET CETERA. AND THEN THOSE ACTIVE LEADS ARE THE COMPANIES WE'RE PROACTIVELY IN REGULAR COMMUNICATION WITH TODAY. LOOKING AT OUR CURRENT FDI PROJECTS IN THE PIPELINE, THERE'S A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT YOU'RE SEEING HERE ON THIS CHART. THE BLUE BARS ARE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE POTENTIAL CAPITAL INVESTMENT. THIS IS LOOKING BY COUNTRY. AND THE YELLOW DOTS INDICATE THE NUMBER OF NEW JOBS IN ASSOCIATION WITH THESE. TO DATE WE HAVE 28 FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT PROJECTS. THE PROJECTS ARE COMPANIES THAT HAVE A REAL ESTATE REQUIREMENT OUTLINED. WE KNOW THE NUMBER OF JOBS THAT THEY'RE LOOKING TO CREATE AND WE KNOW WHAT THAT CAPITAL EXPENDITURE IS LIKELY TO LOOK LIKE. THIS IS, AS OF END OF LAST WEEK, UNITED KINGDOM IS LEADING THE WAY TODAY IN TERMS OF CAPITAL INVESTMENT BUT ALSO IN TERMS OF JOB CREATION. AND WE SEE SOME -- A VERY EXCITING PROJECT THAT IS COMING OUT OF INDIA THAT IS LEADING THAT PARTICULAR LINE ITEM. THAT'S A SINGULAR PROJECT OPPORTUNITY THAT WE'RE WORKING. JAPAN, GERMANY, SOUTH KOREA. YOU CAN SEE HOW THIS IS PLAYING OUT TODAY IN OUR PROJECT PIPELINE. YOU WILL SEE THINGS LIKE A SOUTH AFRICA PROJECT ON THERE. THAT'S A SINGULAR PROJECT THAT TODAY IS DRIVING THAT INTEREST IN THE PIPELINE. BUT WE ATTEND CONFERENCES LIKE SELECT USA, WHICH IS THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE WHERE COMPANIES FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD ARE INVITED IN BY THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ALL AROUND THE WORLD TO COCK TO THE UNITED STATES AND TO LEARN ABOUT INVESTING HERE. YOU CAN SEE WE HAVE A LARGE NUMBER OF LEADS OUTSIDE OF OUR TARGET MARKETS THAT WE GENERATE THROUGH THAT CONFERENCE . AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, THESE ARE LOOKING AT WINS SINCE 2017 IN FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS HERE IN SAN ANTONIO. WE HAVE HAD WINS FROM 12 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, CLOSE TO 10,000 JOBS ANNOUNCED AND $2.5 BILLION IN CAPITAL INVESTMENT FROM THESE COMPANIES. AND IN MANY CASES WE BELIEVE THERE IS MORE TO COME IN THE FUTURE. BUT THESE ARE THOSE ANCHOR STORIES THAT WE'RE ABLE TO TELL TO COMPANIES IN THESE MARKETS THAT REALLY HELP DRAW THE ATTENTION OF FUTURE INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES AND IT REALLY HELPS US TO DRIVE THAT INTEREST AND OPPORTUNITY WITHIN THOSE TARGET INDUSTRIES FOCUSING ON THE COMPANIES THAT ARE ALREADY HERE. AND I BELIEVE THAT IS THE LAST SLIDE. I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS, IF YOU HAVE THEM. >> PELAEZ: THANKS, SARAH. APPRECIATE IT. SO FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU FOR JOINING UP AND THANK YOU, JENNA FOR BEING HERE. THEY SAY THE NICEST COMPLIMENT YOU CAN PAY IS ONE YOU PAY IN FRONT OF YOUR BOSS. JENNA, YOU GOT A SUPERSTAR HERO. I GOT TO SEE SARAH AND SHIRLEY AT WORK UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER AND I WAS BLOWN AWAY, THE MASTERY OF THIS HUGE BODY OF KNOWLEDGE THAT IS SAN ANTONIO, OUR HISTORY, OUR FUTURE, AND IN EVERYTHING THAT IS POSSIBLE IN PUTTING DEALS TOGETHER. I WAS REALLY, REALLY IMPRESSED AND I THINK THAT THE CONVERSATION ABOUT FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IS IN VERY, VERY SAFE HANDS AT YOUR OFFICE AND JUST THANKS FOR TAKING IT VERY SERIOUSLY. THIS WASN'T ALWAYS THE CASE. THERE WAS A TIME WHERE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION RELIED ON ANOTHER ORGANIZATION TO DO ITS FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT AND THAT OTHER ORGANIZATION REALLY WAS JUST MILK TOAST. YOU GUYS ABSORBED IT AND YOU HAVE TOTALLY CHANGED THE TONE AND THE TENDER AND CADENCE OF THE CONVERSATION. I APPRECIATE IT. WITH THAT, COUNCILWOMAN CASTILLO. YOU GOT ANY QUESTIONS? [00:25:02] >> CASTILLO: JUST A COUPLE. THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATIONS. IN GENERAL, IN TERMS OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK, FOR THOSE THAT WE COLLABORATE WITH, WHAT ARE A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES OF COLLABORATION WITH THE FOLKS LISTED? IT'S ON SLIDE 3. >> THAT SLIDE. >> OKAY. SO JUST LAST WEEK WE WERE IN MONTREAL. THAT'S ONE OF OUR TARGET MARKETS. THAT WAS A JOINT EFFORT WITH VISIT SAN ANTONIO, GREATER SATX, PORT SAN ANTONIO, UTSA. WE WERE ALL THERE -- AND I'M PROBABLY MISSING SOME. WE WERE ALL THERE PROVIDING A UNITED FRONT SHOWING THE PEOPLE AT N CYBER WHAT SAN ANTONIO IS AND WHAT WE'RE ABOUT IN PROMOTING HOW WE'RE GOING TO BRING THIS CONFERENCE TO SAN ANTONIO IN HIGHLIGHTING SOME OF THE CYBERSECURITY ASSETS HERE. I THINK THAT'S THE MOST RECENT AND PROBABLY BEST EXAMPLE AT THIS POINT ABOUT EVERYONE COMING TOGETHER FOR THE BENEFIT OF SAN ANTONIO. >> CASTILLO: AND THEN IN TERMS, WHERE I SEE INDIA, ISRAEL, SPAIN. WOULD THAT BE IN TERMS OF COLLABORATION AND/OR TRADE? >> PRIMARILY, THOSE ARE BASED OFF OF OUR PREVIOUS AND CURRENT SISTER CITY RELATIONSHIPS AND FRIENDSHIP CITY RELATIONSHIPS. THERE MAY NOT BE SOMETHING IMMEDIATE IN TERMS OF -- AND SO IT'S LABELED AS COLLABORATION, JUST BECAUSE THERE MAY NOT BE FDI INITIATIVES THERE YET. >> CASTILLO: THANK YOU FOR THAT. WITH THE FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT, WHAT IS THE EXPECTATION OF GREATER SATX AND THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO? LIKE, FOR EXAMPLE, I SEE A COUPLE OF INDUSTRIES HERE -- AND I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO SIT IN ON A TELE-TOWN HALL THAT ONE OF OUR CONGRESSIONAL REPS HAD AND THEY CITED A COUPLE OF LAYOFFS AND SOME OF THE INDUSTRIES HERE. WHAT'S OUR EXPECTATION THAT WHILE WE'RE SECURING THIS RELATIONSHIP IN INVESTMENT THAT WE'RE NOT PUTTING OUR CONSTITUENTS IN A POSITION OF JUST GETTING LAID OFF WITHIN A DAY'S NOTICE. BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT I'M HEARING FROM FOLKS WITH SOME OF THESE INDUSTRIES. ARE THERE ANY EXPECTATIONS THAT WE HAVE THAT, YOU KNOW, OUR CONSTITUENTS AND SAN ANTONIO RESIDENTS ARE TREATED WITH DIGNITY AND GIVEN NOTICE OF WHEN THEY'RE GOING TO BE LAID OFF? >> SO THAT'S NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT BUT THE STATE DOES HAVE THE WARN NOTICE. ANY EMPLOYER WITH OVER 50 EMPLOYEES, WHEN THEY DO A LAYOFF, THEY ARE REQUIRED TO PROVIDE 60 DAYS NOTICE. WHEN WE DO ATTRACT A COMPANY, WHETHER IT'S FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT OR AN EXISTING BUSINESS FROM SOMEPLACE ELSE OR AN EXISTING BUSINESS, THAT GOES BACK TO THAT RETENTION AND GROWTH STRATEGY THAT WE PREVIOUSLY TALKED ABOUT WHERE WE DO GO OUT AND TRY TO MAKE SURE WE ENSURE THOSE RELATIONSHIPS AND THAT WE ARE UNDERSTANDING WHAT TRENDS AND TARGETING THOSE INDUSTRIES THAT MAY BE AT RISK, SO TO SPEAK. >> CASTILLO: THIS ONE DOESN'T HAVE A SLIDE NUMBER BUT THE FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS LIKE, FOR EXAMPLE, HAS EY. THAT'S ONE OF THE INDUSTRIES I HEARD FROM RESIDENTS THEY HAVE BEEN LAID OFF. I'M SORRY. YOUR POINT THAT THAT'S NOT DIRECT INVESTMENT? I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHY EY IS ON HERE. >> IN FACT, WE JUST VISITED EY FOR A MAYOR'S BUSINESS RETENTION AND GROWTH VISIT AND THERE WERE NO INDICATION OR NO PLANS OF ANY LAYOFFS. SO THAT'S SOMETHING WE'D CERTAINLY NEED TO LOOK INTO. >> CASTILLO: YEAH, I'D LIKE A FOLLOW-UP BRIEFING BECAUSE THERE'S SEVERAL CONSTITUENTS THAT HAVE BEEN LAID OFF FROM EY SO I WANT TO UNDERSTAND THE DISCONNECT. THOSE ARE ALL MY COMMENTS. THANK YOU, CHAIR. >> PELAEZ: COUNCILWOMAN. >> GARCIA: THANK YOU AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION. I'LL START OFF BY ACKNOWLEDGING THE WORK YOU ALL DO ON A DAILY BASIS. THANK YOU SO MUCH. TO GREATER SATX AS WELL FOR THE FDI ATTRACTION EFFORTS. I ALSO WANTED TO RECOGNIZE THE TEAM BUT THE DATA HUB ON YOUR WEBSITE I THINK HAS BEEN REALLY IMPRESSIVE AND I THINK FOR MANY YEARS THERE WAS A CONCERN THAT NOBODY REALLY KNEW WHAT WAS GOING ON. I APPRECIATE IT AND I WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT. WITH THAT CREDIT FOR THE IMPROVEMENTS, I ALSO WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THAT'S WHERE I HELPED DRIVE SOME OF MY QUESTIONS AS WELL AS YOUR PRESENTATION LAST FRIDAY AT [00:30:03] THE NORTH CHAMBER PANEL. I WAS THERE AND HEARD YOUR PRESENTATION AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR THOROUGH INFORMATION, SPECIFICALLY ON THE AIRPORT AND HOW THAT HELPS DRIVE SOME OF THE IMPROVEMENTS. AND SO ONE OF THE BIGGEST CATEGORIES THAT CAUGHT MY ATTENTION ON THE WEBSITE WAS THE LOGISTICS AND ACCESSIBILITY ADVANTAGES WITHIN THE AIRPORT NETWORK. THAT'S WHY THOUGHT IT WAS REALLY INTERESTING HOW YOU HAD JUST DISCUSSED THAT ON FRIDAY. WE HAVE 11 INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS, 85 DOMESTIC CONNECTIONS. OUR NEIGHBORS TO THE NORTH HAVE 14 INTERNATIONAL, 104 DOMESTIC. BUT HOUSTON HAS 68 INTERNATIONAL, 122 DOMESTIC. DALLAS HAS 69 INTERNATIONAL AND 188 DOMESTIC CONNECTIONS. I KNOW WE HAVE A GREAT AIRPORT MASTER PLAN THAT WE HAVE UNDERWAY BUT I WAS JUST WONDERING WHAT SOME OF THE CONCERNS THAT YOU HEAR OR THE QUESTIONS THAT YOU HEAR FROM PEOPLE INTERESTED OR PROSPECTIVE FDI BRING UP, REGARDING SPECIFICALLY THE INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS. BECAUSE WE'RE FIGHTING WITH I-35 NORTH AND, YOU KNOW, A LITTLE FURTHER DOWN AND I-10 JUST DOWN THE ROAD. TELL ME HOW YOU DEAL WITH THAT. >> WELL, I THINK FIRST AND FOREMOST THE QUESTIONS ARE DO YOU HAVE A DIRECT FLIGHT TO WHEREVER I'M FROM. THAT'S GOING TO BE THE FIRST QUESTION. WE CAN'T ALWAYS ANSWER YES. BUT TYPICALLY WE CAN ANSWER YES WE HAVE IT IN THE STATE OF TEXAS AND YOU CAN GET HERE RELATIVELY EASILY. AND SO THAT'S BEEN THE ANSWER. AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, PART OF WHAT WE LIKE TO TALK ABOUT -- FIRST OF ALL, MY PERSPECTIVE IS NEVER TALK BADLY ABOUT THE OTHER PERSON'S CHILD. WE DON'T WANT TO TALK BADLY ABOUT DALLAS OR HOUSTON AND WE ALWAYS TAKE FROM THAT ANGLE. I WOULD ADD THAT I THINK WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY HERE IN SAN ANTONIO TO STEP UP AND HELP INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES INTEGRATE IN A WAY THAT IS MORE CHALLENGING IN LARGER MARKETS. AND SO LEVERAGE THE AIRPORT ASSETS FROM THE REST OF THE STATE OF TEXAS BUT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A COMMUNITY THAT IS WILLING TO OPEN ITS ARMS AND OPEN UP ITS DOORS TO HELP YOU INTEGRATE MORE EFFECTIVELY AND MORE EASILY. >> GARCIA: THANK YOU. AND THANK YOU FOR THAT. I KNOW THAT VISIT SAN ANTONIO HAS BEEN WORKING ACTIVELY ALSO ON HELPING PROMOTE WITH SAT AND I WOULDN'T BE A GOOD BOARD MEMBER IF I DIDN'T GIVE THEM A SHOUT OUT. I ALSO SEE OUR ANNUAL PASSENGER RATES ARE GOING UP OR RECORDS. I'M HAPPY ABOUT THAT AND I THINK THAT'S HELPING US GET THERE. DO WE ACCESS WORKFORCE WITH SPECIALIZED TRAINING IN A SPECIFIC INDUSTRY OR DOES THAT MATTER FOR AIRLINE CONNECTIONS? HELP ME UNDERSTAND THAT. >> SO, I THINK WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT BRING IT BACK TO FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT FOR COMPANIES, WHETHER THEY'RE FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD OR FROM SOMEWHERE IN THE UNITED STATES OR RIGHT HERE IN SAN ANTONIO, THE NUMBER ONE QUESTION AND CONCERN THAT A COMPANY HAS IS WORKFORCE. AND SO WHILE AN INTERNATIONAL COMPANY IS GOING TO PRIORITIZE MARKETS WHERE IT'S EASY TO PRIORITIZE EVEN MORE THE COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE WORKFORCE TO MEET THEIR NEEDS. AND, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE THINKING ABOUT A LOT OF DIFFERENT FACTORS WHEN THEY'RE MAKING THESE DECISIONS. THEY'RE THINKING ABOUT LOGISTICS CONSIDERATIONS, SUPPLY CHAIN CONSIDERATIONS. THERE ARE A LOT OF ELEMENTS THAT WEIGH IN BUT FIRST AND FOREMOST I WOULD SAY WORKFORCE IS GOING TO BE THAT FIRST DRIVER AND THEN THEY'RE GOING TO TRY TO GET AS CLOSE AS THEY CAN TO A DIRECT FLIGHT FROM THERE. >> GARCIA: THANK YOU. I APPRECIATE YOU HAVE THE FOCUS ON ALL OF THE INVESTMENTS SINCE 2017. I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THEM BROKEN DOWN BY YEAR AND SEE WHAT WE'VE DONE IN THE PAST TWO YEARS. AND THEN OF COURSE PRE-COVID. I KNOW JCB AND TOYOTA ARE SOME OF THE BIG ONES, SO THANK YOU FOR THAT. THAT'S SPUR SOME OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH SAN ANTONIO SO I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT AND I'M APPRECIATIVE THAT YOU SHOW THEM AS SOME OF THE PRIME EXAMPLES. I WANTED TO THANK OUR EDD TEAM AS WELL FOR THE FRAMEWORK IN INCORPORATING THOSE TARGETED INDUSTRIES AND I THINK THAT'S GOING TO HELP US EVENTUALLY LAND SOME ADDITIONAL FDI ATTRACTION. AND SO THANK YOU AND A SHOUT OUT TO SHIRLEY. I SEE HER EVERYWHERE THAT SHE NEEDS TO BE AS WELL. SO THANK YOU FOR THE ENTIRE TEAM FOR BEING SO READILY AVAILABLE FOR OUR QUESTIONS AS WELL. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, CHAIR. >> WHYTE: THANKS, CHAIR. SLIDE 2, YOU TALK ABOUT EXPAND, ATTRACT NEW [00:35:01] BUSINESSES. DO WE HAVE GOALS OR METRICS RELATED TO THOSE ON WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO? >> THIS IS PULLED DIRECTLY FROM THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC PLAN. WE DO HAVE A NUMBER OF METRICS, PERFORMANCE METRICS THAT WE INCLUDE IN THE BUDGET DOCUMENTS PRESENTED TO CITY COUNCIL, AS WELL AS A NUMBER OF OTHER OPPORTUNITIES AND METRICS THAT WE MONITOR AND FOCUS ON. >> WHYTE: I'D LOVE TO, IF SOMEBODY COULD SEND ME WHAT THE METRICS ARE HERE IN TERMS OF, YOU KNOW, WHAT OUR RETENTION GOALS ARE, HOW WE WANT TO LOOK AT COMPANIES AND WHETHER THEY'RE EXPANDING AND WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT IN TERMS OF ATTRACTING NEW BUSINESSES. I WOULD LOVE THAT. >> HAPPY TO. >> WHYTE: THAT HAVE BEEN CREATED. DO WE KNOW AVERAGE PAY FOR OUR PEOPLE ON THESE AND WHAT TYPE OF JOBS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE? >> SO IT'S -- THE ANSWER IS IT DEPENDS ON THE INDUSTRY AND WHAT THEY'RE DOING AT EACH FACILITY. WE COULD CERTAINLY PULL THAT INFORMATION FOR YOU. WE'RE HAPPY TO LOOK. WE WOULD NOT NECESSARILY HAVE THE SALARIES FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL COMPANY BUT WHAT WE KNOW IS INDUSTRY AVERAGE AND THE INDUSTRY AVERAGE FOR EACH PARTICULAR SEGMENT THAT THESE COMPANIES REPRESENT. WE'RE HAPPY TO PULL THAT FOR YOU. >> WHYTE: SO WE WON'T BE ABLE TO SEE WHETHER OR NOT THESE COMPANIES ARE PAYING THE AVERAGE OR ABOVE OR BELOW? >> IF THEY HAVE INCENTIVES WITH THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, THEN I DO BELIEVE THEY ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT THAT INFORMATION. BUT THAT'S A QUESTION THAT YOU ALL WOULD ANSWER. >> WHYTE: IF WE CAN GET SOME OF THAT INFORMATION, THAT WOULD BE GREAT. AND YOU MENTION INCENTIVES, BECAUSE THAT LEADS ME TO MY NEXT POINT ON FDI. WHAT KIND OF INCENTIVES OR SUBSIDIES ARE BEING OFFERED TO THESE COMPANIES? >> SURE. SO WITHIN THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, THERE ARE A COUPLE OF PROGRAMS THAT ARE TYPICALLY IN CONSIDERATION FOR FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT. LET'S ASSUME IT IS AN INDUSTRIAL PROJECT, BECAUSE THOSE TYPICALLY ARE REQUIRING MORE, YOU KNOW, GREENFIELD DEVELOPMENT, NEW BUILDINGS, LARGER CAPITAL INVESTMENT, ET CETERA. THOSE ARE TYPICALLY GOING TO BE LOOKING AT TAX REBATES OR ABATEMENTS FOR PERSONAL PROPERTY AND/OR REAL PROPERTY. THEY COULD ALSO BE LOOKING AT THE EDIF PROGRAM, WHICH IS A TOOL THAT THE CITY USES TO DRIVE INVESTMENT FOR JOB CREATION PURPOSES. THOSE ARE GRANTS THAT COME IN. TYPICALLY ALSO FOR THESE LARGER INVESTMENTS, WE WOULD ALSO SEE STATE INCENTIVES AVAILABLE TO COMPANIES. THOSE ARE THE DEAL-CLOSING FUND OR THE TEXAS ENTERPRISE ZONE. THOSE TWO PROGRAMS, THE ENTERPRISE ZONE IS SALES TAX BASED AND THE DEAL-CLOSING FUND, WHICH IS TEXAS ENTERPRISE FUND, IS A CASH GRANT PROGRAM PAID OUT ACCORDING TO JOB CREATION GOALS. >> WHYTE: WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THINGS LIKE TAX ABATEMENTS, DO WE HAVE THE INFORMATION ON THESE COMPANIES THAT HAVE COME THAT HAVE BEEN GIVEN THESE INCENTIVES, WHAT THE ECONOMIC IMPACT IS THERE TO THE CITY IN TERMS OF REVENUE THAT WE'RE GIVING BACK? >> YEAH. SO WE DO REPORT THAT ON AN ANNUAL BASIS. THAT'S ALL INFORMATION THAT WE SHARE WITH CITY COUNCIL ANNUALLY. IT'S ALSO PUBLISHED ON THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT -- EXCUSE ME, THE CITY'S WEBSITE. BUT THEN EVERY FIVE YEARS WE ALSO CONTRACT FOR A DEEPER DIVE ECONOMIC IMPACT ANALYSIS. SO WE CAN CERTAINLY FORWARD YOU THE MOST RECENT ONE. >> WHYTE: THAT WOULD BE GREAT. MY NEXT QUESTION IS RELATED TO SORT OF DIVISION OF LABOR BETWEEN THE CITY AND, LET'S SAY GREATER SA. WHAT TYPE OF COORDINATION IS THERE? WHO'S DOING WHAT? HOW DO WE MAKE SURE OVERLAP IS PREVENTED, ET CETERA? >> I'LL START AND THEN THE TEAM CAN JUMP IN. SO WE ARE IN CONSTANT COMMUNICATION. WE MEET AS AN ORGANIZATION TO REVIEW PIPELINE AND PROJECT ACTIVITY ON OUR SIDE AT MINIMUM EVERY TWO WEEKS. WE'RE CONSTANTLY SENDING REPORTS. WHEN WE'RE WORKING AN ACTIVE DEAL, THE DIVISION -- LET ME BACK UP. THE DIVISION OF RESPONSIBILITY IS THINK OF US ON THE FRONT END. WE'RE OUT TELLING THE STORY. WE'RE MARKETING TO COMPANIES. WE ARE PROACTIVELY IDENTIFYING IN RESEARCH WHO [00:40:02] WE SHOULD BE TARGETING AND FINDING WAYS IN THE DOOR THERE. WE ARE RESPONDING TO ALL OF THE REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION THAT COME DIRECTLY FROM COMPANIES OR THEIR SITE SELECTION FIRMS OR OTHER ORGANIZATIONS THAT MIGHT BE SUPPORTING THEM. AND GETTING THEM INFORMATION ON REAL ESTATE, GETTING THEM THE INFORMATION ON THE POTENTIAL INCENTIVES THAT MIGHT BE AVAILABLE. GETTING THEM WORKFORCE INFORMATION, REALLY HELPING THEM THROUGH THAT DECISION PROCESS. AND I THINK AS COUNCILMAN PELAEZ PUT IT DURING OUR TRIP, WE ARE THAT CUSTOMER SERVICE WINDOW OR THAT SINGLE POINT OF CONTACT FOR COMPANIES WHEN THEY'RE GOING THROUGH THAT PROCESS. AND THEN WE'RE IN CONSTANT COMMUNICATION WITH THE TEAM HERE AT THE CITY TO ENSURE WE'RE NOT PUTTING INCENTIVE OPPORTUNITIES IN FRONT OF A COMPANY THAT'S NOT GOING TO QUALIFY OR THAT ISN'T GOING TO ALIGN SO THAT WE CAN MAKE SURE WE'RE IN LOCKSTEP ANY TIME WE'RE IN THOSE COMMUNICATIONS. AND SO THAT'S TYPICALLY WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE ON THE DEAL-MAKING SIDE. >> WHYTE: OKAY. DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA RELATED TO FDI. HOW MUCH IS THE CITY SPENDING EACH YEAR ON THESE EFFORTS? >> AS A WHOLE BETWEEN OUR ORGANIZATIONS OR THE CITY SPECIFICALLY? >> WHYTE: YEAH, CITY SPECIFICALLY. >> WE RECENTLY PROVIDED SOME OF THAT INFORMATION BUT SPECIFICALLY TO THESE FDI CONTRACTS, PART OF THE LARGER OPERATION PLAN THAT GREATER SATX HAS AND THAT RIGHT NOW IS SITTING AT 194,250. AND THAT'S WHAT WE ARE INVESTING IN FDI EFFORTS. >> WHYTE: THAT'S THE CITY'S INVESTMENT? >> CORRECT. >> WHYTE: AND GREATER SATX, YOU GUYS ARE SPENDING SOMETHING ON TOP OF THAT? >> YEAH, THE STRUCTURE IS THEY HAVE TO PUT IN SOME MONEY IN PART OF THOSE CONTRACTS AS WELL. >> SIGNIFICANTLY. AND THE COST OF TRAVEL, THE COST OF ORGANIZING THE TRIPS, THE CONTRACTS, THE HOSTING OF COMPANIES, ET CETERA, ET CETERA. WE DON'T NECESSARILY BREAK IT DOWN RIGHT NOW IN OUR BUDGET PROCESS BETWEEN FDI AND DOMESTIC RECRUITMENTS DIRECTLY, BUT OUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PORTION OF OUR BUDGET SITS AT AROUND $3.5 MILLION. >> WHYTE: IN OUR LAST MEETING WE TALKED ABOUT THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AGREEMENT FOR LATIN AMERICA BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT WITH X STRATEGY U.S. HOW DOES THAT DIFFER FROM OUR FDI EFFORTS? >> I THINK IT'S IN LINE -- IT IS IN LINE WITH OUR FDI EFFORTS. >> WHYTE: IT'S JUST ANOTHER TOOL WE USE, ANOTHER ORGANIZATION WE PARTNER WITH TO ASSIST IN THIS? >> CORRECT. WE'RE MANAGING THAT ONE SO THAT IS SEPARATE AND APART. BASED ON OUR LATIN AMERICA TASK FORCE AND EXPLORING THAT REGION BEYOND MEXICO, WE MOVED FORWARD WITH THAT FDI PLAN. WE'RE WORKING CLOSELY WITH GREATER SATX FOR COMPANIES THAT ARE PULLED FROM THAT LEAD-GENERATION CONTRACT. SO IT IS THE SAME BOAT AS FDI EFFORTS, IT'S JUST THAT THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO WILL BE MANAGING THAT AS OPPOSED TO GREATER SATX MANAGING OUR JAPAN OR KOREA CONSULTANTS. >> WHYTE: HOW MANY OTHER ORGANIZATIONS ARE THERE LIKE THIS THAT WE WORK WITH? >> SPECIFICALLY WITH THE CITY, WE'VE WORKED WITH OUR KOREAN CONSULTANT THAT THEY NOW ENGAGE. AND WE HAVE THIS X STRATEGIES BUT I'LL LET GREATER SATX SHARE MORE. >> EACH OF THE COUNTRIES THAT WE WORK IN, WE HAVE IDENTIFIED THE BEST ABILITY TO DELIVER ON EACH CONTRACT REQUIREMENT. EACH OF OUR CONTRACTS WE HAVE IN PLACE A SERIES OF METRICS THAT THE CONSULTANTS HAVE TO MEET. THOSE ARE NUMBERS OF NEW MEETINGS ENGAGED, NUMBERS OF LEADS IDENTIFIED, NUMBER OF PARTICULAR PROJECTS THAT THEY'RE SUPPORTING AND HELPING CONNECT TO OUR TEAM TO WORK DOWN AND MANAGE. AND TYPICALLY THERE ARE HELPING US HOST INBOUND TRIPS AND MAKING SURE ALL OF THOSE LOGISTICS ARE MANAGED. THEY ARE COMPREHENSIVE CONTRACTS WITH METRICS AROUND EACH INDIVIDUAL ONE. >> WHYTE: OKAY. LOOK, I'M OVERALL SUPPORTIVE OF THESE FDI EFFORTS, I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE TARGETED, THEY'RE STRATEGIC, AND THAT THEY'RE REEVALUATED PERIODICALLY TO MAKE SURE WE'RE NOT JUST SPINNING OUR WHEELS AND TAKING TRIPS FOR THE HECK OF IT. >> I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND, SIR, AND DON'T WANT TO BE IN THAT BOAT MYSELF SO I HAVE A 9-YEAR-OLD SON AT HOME AND EVERY TIME I GET ON A PLANE I THINK IS THIS WORTH MY TIME AWAY FROM MY SON. AND SO WHEN WE GO TO KOREA AND WE MEET WITH 20 DIFFERENT COMPANIES, I KNOW [00:45:05] THAT'S TIME WELL SPENT. I KNOW EACH OF US AS AN ORGANIZATION THINK THE SAME WAY. >> WHYTE: YEP. THANKS. >> PELAEZ: THANK YOU. THAT'S REALLY VERY PROFOUND, COUNCILMAN. YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE'S ALWAYS A RETURN ON INVESTMENT BAKED INTO THE DECISION TO CHASE, YOU KNOW, ONE OPPORTUNITY VERSUS THE OTHER. AND IT'S SOMETHING THAT THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE HAS DONE FOR US IN MANY WAYS. SO THE GOVERNOR RANKS EVERY YEAR OUR TOP FIVE TRADE PARTNERS AND THE PEOPLE WHO IMPORT AND EXPORT WITH US. NUMBER ONE, BUMPING UP TO THE TOP IS ALWAYS MEXICO. AND, YOU KNOW, FOLLOWED BY CANADA, CHINA, AND THE NETHERLANDS. WHAT WAS REALLY INTERESTING WAS WHEN IT APPLIES TO FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT AND CAP X, IT'S THE FOLLOWING COUNTRIES IN THIS ORDER: THE U.K., JAPAN, GERMANY, FRANCE, AND ISRAEL. AND MEXICO DOESN'T RANK IN THE TOP FIVE COUNTRIES. THEY'RE OUR TRADE PARTNER BUT THEY'RE NOT OUR FDI CAP X PARTNER. WHICH IS MY WAY OF RECOGNIZING HOW IMPORTANT THAT FLIGHT TO GERMANY IS. THAT FLIGHT IS THE DOORWAY TO GERMANY, FRANCE, ISRAEL, JAPAN, AND THE U.K. BECAUSE THAT AIRPORT IN FRANKFURT HAS DIRECT FLIGHTS IN AND OUT. I THINK AS WE'RE CHASING THESE JOBS IT'S IMPORTANT TO REMIND NOT JUST OURSELVES BUT, YOU KNOW, ALL OF SAN ANTONIANS THAT THERE ARE 1,009 FOREIGN COMPANIES DOING BUSINESS IN THIS STATE AND THAT ROUGHLY TRANSLATES INTO -- BY THE WAY, IT SOUNDS LIKE I'M SMART BUT I'M JUST READING FROM THE GOVERNOR'S WEBSITE. 158,000 TEXANS EMPLOYED BY FOREIGN COMPANIES SO THIS IS NOT -- I KNOW THAT A LOT OF THE PUBLIC THINKS THESE ARE JUNKETS THAT YOU TAKE AND THAT YOU'RE TAKING ELECTED OFFICIALS AND OTHER BUSINESS FOLKS TO HAVE KOREAN FOOD. THE REALITY IS THAT KOREA, IN PARTICULAR, HAS INVESTED BILLIONS OF DOLLARS JUST UP THE STREET FROM US, YOU KNOW, IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY AND THE COMPANIES WE'RE VISITING IN KOREA ARE TELLING US THE NUMBER ONE DESTINATION BECAUSE OF SAMSUNG IS TEXAS. WE WOULD BE GETTING THE GOLD MEDAL EVERY TIME AND BY WE I MEAN THIS MEGA REGION, DALLAS THROUGH SAN ANTONIO. AND THE OTHER LESSON THAT I LEARNED TOO IS IF WE DON'T DO THIS, NORTH DAKOTA WILL DO IT FOR US. OREGON WILL DO IT FOR US. YOU KNOW, WILLIAMSON CONWILLIAMSON COUNTYIS KNOCKING. THEY WERE THERE IN AND OUT OF THE MEETINGS. THIS IS A BLOODY KNUCKLE FIGHT FOR JOBS. NOW, COUNCILWOMAN VIAGRAN HAS SOME COMMENTS. COUNCILWOMAN VIAGRAN. >> VIAGRAN: THANK YOU, CHAIR. THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION. I WANT TO THANK EDD AND GREATER SATX, THE SOUTH SIDE OF SAN ANTONIO HAS REALLY BEEN APPRECIATIVE OF YOUR EFFORTS TO BRING FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT TO WHAT WAS THE BROOKS AIR FORCE BASE AND IS NOW BROOKS CAMPUS. SO I WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT. I WOULD LIKE THE TEAM FROM GREATER SATX TO COME. I APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATION BUT I THINK THE WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE WOMEN THAT ARE LEADING THIS ORGANIZATION, CAN Y'ALL SPEAK TO SOME OF YOUR EXPERIENCE AND SOME OF WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN. I DON'T KNOW, JENNA, IF YOU WANT TO COME UP AND SHARE BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEEN AROUND QUITE A WHILE IN THIS. TELL US, LIKE, WHAT HAVE Y'ALL SEEN? HOW IS THIS GETTING BETTER. AS COUNCILMAN PELAEZ ALLUDED TO, GETTING A LITTLE MORE DIFFICULT TO DO. THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE CAN TRY AND MEASURE BUT IT REALLY TAKES YOU ALL WITH EXPERIENCE TO REALLY COMMUNICATE THAT MESSAGE. >> I'LL START, COUNCILWOMAN. SO I'VE ACTUALLY WORKED IN INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOR 20 YEARS. I SPENT THE FIRST 18 -- 21 YEARS, I GUESS. I SPENT THE FIRST 18 YEARS OF MY CAREER LEADING INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE DALLAS REGION PRIOR TO MOVING HERE TO SAN ANTONIO TO TAKE ON THIS WORK. WHEN I FIRST STARTED IN THIS WORLD, TEXAS WAS KIND OF KNOWN ON THE INTERNATIONAL [00:50:06] STAGE AND IT WAS SORT OF DISMISSED. IT WAS ASSUMED THAT IF YOU WEREN'T IN CALIFORNIA OR NEW YORK OR MAYBE CHICAGO THEN, YOU KNOW, THE REST OF THE COUNTRY DIDN'T MATTER. THERE'S REALLY NOT A SENSE GLOBALLY FOR THIS SCALE OF THE UNITED STATES. MOST COMPANIES HAVE NO IDEA. THEY THINK NEW YORK AND TEXAS AND CALIFORNIA ARE A FEW HOURS APART. THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND THE SCALE OF THE COUNTRY OR THE SCALE EVEN OF THE STATE OF TEXAS. TODAY WHEN WE WALK INTO MEETINGS REPRESENTING COMMUNITY IN THE STATE OF TEXAS, WE ARE RECEIVED AND WE ARE WELCOMED. SO THE STORY OF TEXAS AS A BUSINESS DESTINATION HAS TRANSFORMED IN THE LAST 20 YEARS. AND I WOULD SAY THAT HAS MADE IT A LOT EASIER TO GET THE INITIAL MEETINGS AND THE INITIAL INTRODUCTIONS. THAT'S BEEN YEARS AND YEARS OF BUILDING THAT BRAND, OF BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS AND REALLY MANAGING THAT EFFECTIVELY. I THINK THE CHALLENGE FOR US HAS BEEN ALLUDED TO IN THE CONVERSATIONS AS THOSE DIRECT FLIGHTS REALLY ARE A CHALLENGE WHEN YOU'RE TALKING TO INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES. AND SO WE NEED TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THOSE OPPORTUNITIES AND WE NEED TO SUSTAIN THE INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS THAT WE HAVE TODAY IF WE WANT TO BE SUPER COMPETITIVE IN THIS SPACE. AND I WOULD SAY A LOT OF COMMUNITIES ARE NOW DOING INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WHEN THEY WEREN'T BEFORE. COMPANIES ARE UNDERSTANDING NOW THAT IT IS COMPETITIVE THAT THEY DO WANT TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF INCENTIVES AND THEY DON'T ALWAYS UNDERSTAND WHY WE USE INCENTIVES IN A COMMUNITY HERE. THEY ASSUME IN OTHER MARKETS THAT THEY ARE DONE AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL. HERE, THEY START AT THE LOCAL LEVEL AND SO THERE'S A DISCONNECT IN EXPECTATIONS THAT WE SPEND A LOT OF TIME HELPING COMPANIES UNDERSTAND SO THEY CAN EFFECTIVELY MOVE INTO THE SPACE. BUT I'LL TELL YOU I THINK TEXAS AND SAN ANTONIO COULDN'T BE BETTER POSITIONED THAN WE ARE RIGHT NOW. THE WAY WE'VE LEANED IN TO SUPPORT DEVELOPING WORKFORCE IN OUR COMMUNITY, THE WAY WE LEAN IN AS A COMMUNITY TO WELCOME COMPANIES AND HELP THEM NAVIGATE AND EXPAND AND SUCCEED IN THAT EXPANSION IN OUR COMMUNITY IS REALLY UNIQUE IN TEXAS AND I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING WE SHOULD BE SUPER PROUD OF. I TELL MY TEAM ALL THE TIME WE MIGHT NOT ALWAYS WIN ON PAPER BECAUSE WE WON'T HAVE THE DIRECT FLIGHT OR WE WON'T HAVE A PARTICULAR ATTRIBUTE, BUT WE'RE ALWAYS GOING TO WIN ON CUSTOMER SERVICE AND BEING THE BEST AND EASIEST PLACE TO DO BUSINESS WITH. IF WE DO THAT, THEN WE GET MORE AT BATS AND MORE OPPORTUNITIES AND THEY SHARE THAT STORY WITH OTHER BUSINESS LEADERS IN THEIR COMMUNITY AND THAT REALLY PAYS OFF IN THE LONG RUN. >> VIAGRAN: DOES ANYBODY ELSE FROM GREATER WANT TO SHARE? >> YES, COUNCILWOMAN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE INVITATION. I DON'T KNOW IF I COULD HAVE ANSWERED THAT ANY MORE ELOQUENTLY THAN SARAH JUST DID. WHEN WE TALK ABOUT OUR EXPERIENCE IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, SARAH IS THE VETERAN ACROSS THE STATE OF TEXAS. SO IT WAS A BIG HIRE FOR US THREE YEARS AGO. SHE AND BRENDA AND TEAM ARE WORKING INCREDIBLY WELL TOGETHER. WHAT I WILL ADD, THOUGH, IS THAT YOU KNOW THE PROGRESS THAT WE MADE IN SAN ANTONIO SPECIFICALLY OVER THE LAST EIGHT YEARS THAT I'VE BEEN AT GREATER SATX HAS BEEN TREMENDOUS. COUNCILMAN PELAEZ MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY HOW FRACTURED AND FRAGMENTED WE WERE RELATED TO FOREIGN INVESTMENT. THE FREE TRADE MANAGED A VERSION. AND EDF AT THE TIME WAS SOLELY FOCUSED ON DOMESTIC ATTRACTION, IF YOU WILL. THERE WERE MULTIPLE PLAYERS AND THE CITY AND PRIVATE PARTNERS WERE SOCIALIZING AND SPREADING OUT THEIR INVESTMENTS AND NOBODY WAS REALLY OWNING IT. AND THE RESULTS REALLY ALIGNED TO THAT. FAST FORWARD TO TODAY, AND NOT ONLY ARE WE STREAMLINED AS IT RELATES TO LOCAL ENTITIES OF FOCUS, GREATER SATX WITHOUT A DOUBT IS THE LEAD MARKETING ORGANIZATION FOR BUSINESS INVESTMENT IN THE REGION. AND SO WE ARE OUT AS THE TIP OF THE SPHERE AND WE ARE PROJECT MANAGING AND BRINGING IN THE CITY, OUR UTILITY PARTNERS, CPS ENERGY AND SAWS, BRINGING IN THE STATE TO CLOSE THESE PROJECTS. I WILL TELL YOU WHEN YOU STEP BACK AND THINK ABOUT OUR ORGANIZATION AS A MARKETING ORGANIZATION, ALSO A PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION, SARAH SPOKE A LOT ABOUT THE AIRPORT. AND COUNCILWOMAN ROCHA GARCIA ASKED A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT AIR SERVICE. WHAT I AM MOST PROUD OF, BEYOND GETTING PAST SOME OF THE FRAGMENTED ECOSYSTEM WE WERE OPERATING IN IN THE PAST, WAS HOW WELL WE ARE PARTNERING WITH SAT, WITH VISIT SAN ANTONIO, AND WITH A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS AROUND THE COMMUNITY ON PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE SUCCESSES, WHETHER IT BE, YOU KNOW, THE CONDOR FLIGHT [00:55:08] TO FRANKFURT, THE AIRPORT TEAM AND VISIT SAN ANTONIO AND GREATER SATX ARE LEVERAGING DATA. WHAT OUR EXISTING EMPLOYERS NEED AND EMPLOYERS IN THE PIPELINE TO TELL US WHAT AIR SERVICE WE NEED TO SECURE. THAT'S ONE EXAMPLE. THE STATE OF TEXAS AND US ARE ALIGNED AS WELL AND SO ACROSS THE BOARD I THINK THE SIMPLE STORY IS THAT WE ARE STREAMLINED AND THAT WE ARE WORKING REALLY HARD, AS COUNCILMAN PELAEZ MENTIONED, TO SECURE DEALS THAT MAKE SENSE THAT ARE GOING TO GROW ECONOMIC OUTCOMES FOR SAN ANTONIO AND IT IS WORKING. JCB AND TOYOTA WERE TWO OF THE LARGEST FDI PROJECTS IN THE STATE. IF YOU JUST DECOUPLE SAMSUNG IN THAT CONVERSATION. I WILL ADD, THOUGH, WE HAVE MULTIPLE SAMSUNG SUPPLIERS IN THE PIPELINE. WE HAVE TESLA AND JCB SUPPLIERS IN THE PIPELINE. OVER THE NEXT FIVE TO TEN YEARS SAN ANTONIO IS GOING TO REAP THE BENEFITS OF THE DECISIONS EACH OF YOU HAS MADE. THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY. THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTION. >> VIAGRAN: WE WANT TO CONTINUE TO GROW AND WE AS A COMMITTEE AND COUNCIL AND TEAM SAN ANTONIO NEED TO MAKE SURE WE ASK QUESTIONS THAT ARE ABOUT ACCOUNTABILITY AUDIO] AND QUESTIONS THAT ARE ABOUT WHAT THE COUNCIL HAS PRIORITIZED. SO I APPRECIATE THIS BRIEFING. I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING MORE AND SEEING WHAT WE DO IN HELPING TO BRING NOT JUST FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT BUT, YOU KNOW, DOMESTIC HEADQUARTERS HERE. AND OF COURSE I AM OF THE OPINION THAT CANADA AND MEXICO ARE JUST SPECIAL NEIGHBORS WHEN WE TALK FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT, BECAUSE OF THEIR PROXIMITY AND THE THINGS WE HAVE IN COMMON. THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION AND I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING MORE UPDATES. THANK YOU. >> PELAEZ: COUNCILWOMAN CASTILLO. >> CASTILLO: THE WALL STREET JOURNAL DOES HAVE AN ARTICLE ABOUT EY LAYING OFF EMPLOYEES. IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING IN APRIL AND DECEMBER IS WHEN THEY INITIATED IT. THAT'S THE TIME-FRAME I'M REFERENCING. >> PELAEZ: YOU GUYS HAVE SOME HOMEWORK. AND YOU GOT TO TURN IT INTO COUNCILWOMAN CASTILLO TO MAKE SURE WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE REGARDING EY. I CAN'T EMPHASIZE ENOUGH HOW IMPORTANT THESE FLIGHTS TO EUROPE ARE. REMEMBER AUSTIN'S VERY FIRST FLIGHTS TO EUROPE WAS THE CONDOR FLIGHT. AND AFTER PROVING OUT THAT THEY ARE THE RIGHT AIRPORT FOR EUROPEAN FLIGHTS, THEY STARTED LANDING MORE AND MORE DIRECT FLIGHTS TO EUROPE. THIS IS OUR FIRST. AND I DON'T THINK YOU COULD HAVE PICKED A BETTER MARKET THAN FRANKFURT. MY UNDERSTANDING IS THOSE PLANES ARE -- THE CONDOR IS VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE HOLIDAY SEASON, IN PARTICULAR, BUT FOR US BEING ABLE TO GET IN AND OUT OF EUROPE IS ESSENTIAL. IT PROVES OUT TO AMERICAN, DELTA, AND ALL THE OTHERS THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY SUPPORT THOSE MARKETS. TWO, WHEN YOU CONSIDER THAT GERMANY IS TEXAS -- IS THE NUMBER TWO FDI PARTNER FOR ALL OF TEXAS, RIGHT, IT WOULD MAKE -- IT WOULD BE THE OPPOSITE OF LOGICAL TO SPEND OUR ATTENTION ON TRYING TO GET MORE DIRECT FLIGHTS TO TIJUANA OR, YOU KNOW, ANY OTHER INTERESTING MEXICAN CITY WHEN WHAT WE'RE SEEING IS ALL THAT FDI COMING FROM OTHER PLACES. THE FACT THAT WE ARE INFORMED BY DATA NOW WHEN WE'RE CHASING IT AS OPPOSED TO BEING INFORMED BY WARM AND FUZZY AFFINITY FOR ONE PLACE VERSUS ANOTHER I THINK IS REALLY IMPORTANT. IT'S INCUMBENT UPON US -- THAT MEANS EVERYBODY IN THIS ROOM -- TO COMMUNICATE THAT WE ARE MAKING ALL THESE DECISIONS BASED ON DATA. AND THAT WASN'T ALWAYS THE CASE, JENNA. WHEN YOU TOOK OVER THE REINS, YOURS WAS NOT AN ORGANIZATION INFORMED BY DATA AND NOW IT IS. YOU'RE RIGHT. OUR FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT, ALL OF OUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS ARE BEING LED BY WOMEN. THANK YOU, COUNCILWOMAN VIAGRAN FOR POINTING THAT OUT. THAT'S A REALLY BIG DEAL. ALFRED, YOU'RE OUTNUMBERED. SORRY, NOT SORRY. SO THANK YOU FOR THE BRIEFING. I REALLY APPRECIATE IT. ALEX, DO YOU WANT TO ADD ANYTHING TO THAT OR ARE YOU OKAY? >> ONLY THAT WE KIND OF INCLUDE MIKE IN THAT CONVERSATION TOO. HE AND ALFRED -- >> PELAEZ: IN THAT CASE, MIKE, YOU'RE UP. YOU GOT A BRIEFING FOR READY TO WORK FOR US. >> THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR HAVING US, COUNCILMEMBER. [01:00:08] READY TO WORK UPDATE IS WHAT I PLAN TO DISCUSS TODAY. WE ALWAYS START THESE UPDATES WITH ONE OF OUR POINTS OF LIGHT BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT READY TO WORK IS ALL ABOUT, THE PEOPLE WE SERVE HERE IN SAN ANTONIO. SO THIS AFTERNOON I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT DWAYNE LEE. DWAYNE PARTICIPATED IN READY TO WORK THROUGH ALAMO COLLEGES. HE OBTAINED HIS ASSOCIATE OF APPLIED SCIENCE DEGREE IN CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS MANAGEMENT. FOLLOW HIS TRAINING HE LANDED AT JOB AT BELL AND MCCOY LIGHTING CONTROLS AND HE'S THE ONLY APPLICANT TECHNICIAN IN SAN ANTONIO AND ONE OF TEN THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE COMPANY . WE'RE SUPER PROUD THAT ONE OF OUR PARTICIPANTS HAS THAT DISTINCTION. PRIOR TO JOINING READY TO WORK, DWAYNE WORKED AS A HANDYMAN AND IS A PROUD AIR FORCE VETERAN. HE SAID THE BIGGEST CHANGE FOR HIM AND HIS FAMILY HAS BEEN FINANCIAL STABILITY, WHICH HAS MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN NOT ONLY BEING ABLE TO PAY THE BILLS BUT ALSO TO SAVE AND ENJOY INCREASED FINANCIAL FREEDOM. CONGRATS TO DWAYNE. WE HAVE THOUSANDS MORE STUDIES LIKE DWAYNE NOW SO WE'RE EXCITED TO CHANGE LIVES THROUGH THIS INVESTMENT THAT THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO IS MAKING. READY TO WORK, WE HAVE BEEN UP AND RUNNING FOR ALMOST 2.5 YEARS NOW. OUR FIRST PARTICIPANT STARTED ENROLLING IN MAY OF 2022. AND BEFORE THIS INITIATIVE WAS KIND OF CREATED, OUR ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, ALEX LOPEZ, AS SHE BEGAN TO SHAPE THIS PROGRAM, THERE WERE SOME GUIDING PRINCIPLES THAT WE WERE FOUNDED UPON AND HAVING A FOCUSED APPROACH, STRATEGIC PROGRAM, SHOULD SEEK TO REDUCE POVERTY THROUGH TARGETED SOLUTIONS FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT. THERE'S SO MUCH NEED OUT THERE, IT'S SO EASY TO FORGET WHAT BROUGHT THIS PROGRAM ABOUT FROM ITS INCEPTION. ALIGNMENT, HIGH-QUALITY TRAINING EDUCATION ALIGNED WITH EMPLOYER NEEDS, DRIVING LONG-TERM SUCCESS. YOU JUST HEARD FROM OUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TEAM ABOUT WHAT EMPLOYERS LOOK FOR AS THEY LOOK TO GROW AND EXPAND THEIR BUSINESS. AT THE TOP OF THE LIST IS WORKFORCE AND THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO HAD THE FORESIGHT TO START MAKING THAT INVESTMENT EARLY ON AND THERE WAS A RECENT SURVEY, THEY CELEBRATED THEIR 100TH YEAR OF ANNIVERSARY OF MAYORS. WHAT'S YOUR BIGGEST CONCERN? WHAT WAS NUMBER ONE? WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC MOBILITY FOR ITS COMMUNITY. SAN ANTONIO IS AHEAD OF THE GAME IN HAVING A PROGRAM ALREADY LAUNCHED. AND EQUITY. WORKFORCE PROGRAM SHOULD CONSIDER BENEFITS AND BURDENS TO HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS. ADDITIONAL SUPPORTS ARE NECESSARY TO AFFORD ALL SAN ANTONIO RESIDENTS WITH OPPORTUNITIES TO SUCCEED, REGARDLESS OF THEIR CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES AND, OF COURSE, COLLABORATION. THIS WORK IS TOO BIG TO DO ALONE. THROUGH COMMUNITY COLLABORATION AND SHARED INNOVATIONS WE CAN BUILD A STRONGER AND MORE INCLUSIVE WORKFORCE ECOSYSTEM. WITH THAT, READY TO WORK WAS BORN. WHAT ARE OUR TAX PROJECTIONS? IN FY '21 WE COLLECTED $12.9 MILLION. 23 ACTUALS, 49.1. 49.7 IN FY24. AND IN THE LAST YEAR OF COLLECTION, DECEMBER 31, 2025, WE STOP COLLECTING THE TAX, 27.4, FOR A TOTAL OF $239.3 MILLION . READY TO WORK PROGRAMMING IS GOING TO SUNSET PROJECTED IN 2029. WE GOT ABOUT FOUR AND A HALF TO FIVE YEARS TO IMPLEMENT THE REMAINDER OF THE INITIATIVE. SO READY TO WORK OVERVIEW. THE BASICS: TRAINING, EDUCATION, AND EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM, PROVIDING TUITION ASSISTANCE SUPPORT FOR DEGREES, LIKE DWAYNE, WE WANT TO SEE MORE OF THAT IN THE FUTURE. WRAPAROUND SERVICES AND SUPPORT, AND THE SCALE IS UNPRECEDENTED, AND EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT IS CRITICAL. WE TALK ABOUT THAT SCALE. WE'VE BEEN LOCKED INTO THESE FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS SINCE THOSE INITIAL CONTRACTS WERE EXECUTED. 39,000 APPLICANTS TO BE SERVED. 28,000 PARTICIPANTS ENROLLED IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING COURSES WITH WRAPAROUND SUPPORTS. 15,600 PEOPLE PLACED IN WELL-PAYING JOBS, WHICH IS THE ULTIMATE GOAL. JOB PLACEMENT. SO OUR DASHBOARD. WE TALK ABOUT BEING DATA DRIVEN. WE'RE VERY TRANSPARENT ABOUT THE PROGRESS OF THE PROGRAM. YOU SEE THE AREAS WE'RE DOING WELL IN, THE AREAS WE'RE STRUGGLING IN THAT THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF GETTING PEOPLE PLACED IN CHARGE, WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS. 9100 PEOPLE ENROLLED IN TRAINING, THAT'S A LOT OF PEOPLE IN 2.5 YEARS. 2578 SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED TRAINING. OVER 1500 ARE ALREADY PLACED IN APPROVED JOBS. AS FAR AS THE SALES TAX, WE HAVE COLLECTED OVER $160 MILLION AND SPENT ABOUT $43 MILLION SO FAR. EMPLOYERS, OVER 840 HAVE HIRED READY TO WORK PARTICIPANTS. [01:05:05] $44,000 A YEAR. WE'RE EXTREMELY PROUD OF THAT NUMBER BECAUSE THAT INTAKE, THEY'RE MAKING JUST OVER $14,000 A YEAR. THAT'S OVER $30,000 IN INCREASED INCOME. 59% PLACED WITHIN SIX MONTHS AND 78% WITHIN 12 MONTHS. I WANT TO CONTINUE TO SHORTEN THAT BY WORKING WITH OUR EMPLOYERS AND PARENTS TO BRIDGE THAT TIME GAP. THE PIPELINE, OVER 4800 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DEEMED ELIGIBLE FOR READY TO WORK AND ARE AWAITING ENROLLMENT IN OUR TRAINING PROGRAMS. AGAIN, 1529 PLACED IN JOBS, 1378 IN JOB SEARCH. OVER 5,000 PEOPLE STILL COMPLETING THEIR EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMS. SO SIGNIFICANT RETURN ON INVESTMENT. AFTER THE FIRST YEAR, DR. NIVIN, A LOCAL ECONOMIST, DID A STUDY AND FOUND A $1.7 BILLION PROJECTED RETURN ON INVESTMENT FROM THE FIRST YEAR. ONE DOLLAR SPENT, $61 RETURN. OVER THE LIFETIME OF THE EARNINGS FOR THOSE INDIVIDUALS IN THE PROGRAM. THAT'S A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER. THERE WAS RECENTLY A REPORT DONE BY MARK ELLIOTT, SEEING THE INCREASE IN EARNINGS THAT IT PROVIDED TO US, QUEST PARTICIPANTS OVER A 14-YEAR TIME PERIOD. THAT SHOWED WHY WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IS SO IMPORTANT AND BRINGS A SIGNIFICANT RETURN BACK TO THE INVESTORS INTO THAT WORK. SO WITHOUT, YOU KNOW, HAVING A DEGREE IN ECONOMICS, JUST DOING THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN MATH, 1500 JOB PLACEMENTS. $30,000 INCREASE IN SALARY. THAT'S ABOUT $46 MILLION IN EARNINGS FLOWING THROUGH THE LOCAL ECONOMY ADDITIONALLY AS A RESULT OF THE WORK OF READY TO WORK SO FAR. THAT'S JUST OVER A 12-MONTH PERIOD SO THAT'S SOMETHING WE'RE GOING TO SEE IN OUR LOCAL COMMUNITY IN THE NEAR FUTURE. 60% OF OUR PARTICIPANTS ARE IN THE 18-24-YEAR-OLD RANGE. THEY'RE GOING TO BE WORKING FOR A LONG TIME AND MORE THAN 800 LOCAL EMPLOYERS HAVE HIRED GRADUATES OF READY TO WORK PROGRAMS. SO WHERE ARE THEY COMING FROM? EVERYWHERE. SEVERAL DISTRICTS HAVE OVER 1,000 PEOPLE ENROLLED IN TRAINING. SEVERAL HUNDRED IN EVERY DISTRICT ACROSS THE CITY. AS WE TALKED ABOUT IN THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES, THERE'S POCKETS OF PEOPLE IN NEED THROUGHOUT THE CITY SO WE WANT TO DO OUTREACH TO REACH EACH AND EVERY PERSON THAT'S LOOKING TO UPGRADE THEIR SKILLS AND GET A BETTER JOB AND EARN MORE MONEY IN A NEW CAREER THAT'S IN DEMAND. SO READY TO WORK ENROLLMENTS. HEALTHCARE IS DOMINATING THE LANDSCAPE RIGHT NOW AND THAT'S BEEN CONSISTENT FROM OUR PREDECESSOR PROGRAM. IT'S THE FOUNDATION ON WHICH THE ORIGINAL PARTNER WITH THE CITY, PROJECT QUEST BUILT THEIR WORK OFF OF. THERE'S TONS OF NEED AND DEMAND IN HEALTHCARE AND THOSE HOSPITALS AND DOCTORS' OFFICES ARE GOING TO BE LOOKING FOR TALENT. THEY HAVE ALREADY GOT SYSTEMS BUILT TO WELCOME NEW ENTRANCES INTO THOSE PROFESSIONS. THEN WE HAVE TRANSPORTATION LOGISTICS. CDL HAS BEEN POPULAR AND THEY'RE GETTING PLACED ABOVE THE AVERAGE RATE OF READY TO WORK PARTICIPANTS SO FAR. IT AND CYBERSECURITY. 16% OF THE COMMUNITY HAS HEARD ABOUT ALL THE GREAT JOBS THAT EXIST IN THE IT SPACE AND IN CYBERSECURITY AND ARE STRIVING TOWARDS CONNECTING WITH EMPLOYMENT IN THAT SPACE. PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. EDUCATION AND MANUFACTURING. SUPER HIGH JOB PLACEMENT BUT WE HAVE LOWER ENROLLMENT AT 1%. WE'RE TRYING TO SOME PROMOTIONS. SO READY TO WORK ENROLLMENTS. AGAIN, 77% PURSUING CERTIFICATIONS AND 23% PURSUING A DEGREE. THAT'S ASSOCIATE OR BACHELOR'S DEGREES. WE WANTED THAT NUMBER TO BE CLOSER TO 60% CERTIFICATIONS AND 40% DEGREES SO WE'RE GOING TO BE TAKING SOME MEASURES TO TRY TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE BECAUSE WE WANT TO SERVE THE WHOLE SPECTRUM OF WORKFORCE HERE IN THE SAN ANTONIO COMMUNITY. SO OUR DEMOGRAPHICS. MALE. 36%. FEMALE, 64%. I TELL THIS STORY ALL THE TIME THAT THE TYPICAL OR AVERAGE PARTICIPANT IN READY TO WORK IS A SINGLE HISPANIC FEMALE WITH CHILDREN IN THE HOUSEHOLD. SO WE WANT TO TRY TO MAKE SURE WE'RE COGNIZANT OF THAT. 62% HISPANIC. 20% BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN. 11% WHITE. 7% OTHERS. $14,400 HOUSEHOLD INCOME FOR THE AVERAGE READY TO WORK PARTICIPANT. SO THAT AGE DEMOGRAPHIC, A LOT OF YOUNG PEOPLE THAT ARE IN THE PROGRAM UNDER THE AGE OF 30. 40% FALL INTO THAT CATEGORY BUT ONE OF THE SURPRISING STATS, 10% OVER 15 YEARS OLD [01:10:08] PARTICIPATING IN THE READY TO WORK. >> INTENTIONAL OUTREACH, PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES, MILITARY, SELF-REPORTED JUSTICE INVOLVED, OVER 380 FOSTER INVOLVED, AND, AGAIN, THAT MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME AT INTAKE, $14,400. TOP TRAINING PROGRAMS, ALAMO COLLEGES IS AT THE TOP OF THE LIST. THE MAJORITY OF OUR TRAINING PARTICIPANTS ARE CONNECTED TO OUR AWARD-WINNING COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM, ACD AND ST. PHILLIP'S, UTSA'S CONTINUING ED, SAC, COLLEGE OF NURSING, TAMUSA ROUND OUT OUR TOP 10. CDL DRIVERS, A SHORT PROGRAM, LOW BARRIERS TO ENTRY, OVER 1300 PEOPLE. WE'RE WATCHING IT TO MAKE SURE WE DON'T OVERSATURATE THE MARKET. WE HAVE ABOVE AVERAGE PLACEMENT IN THAT JOB OCCUPATION TO DATE. NURSING ASSISTANTS, ALL THE WAY DOWN TO INFORMATION AND SECURITY ANALYSTS AT OVER 200. SO BY PARTNER, AS YOU ALL KNOW, THE CITY IS NOT DOING THIS WORK DIRECTLY, WE'RE CONTRACTING THIS WORK OUT TO THESE AGENCIES IN OUR COMMUNITY THAT ARE EXPERTS IN THEIR CRAFT, AND IF YOU SEE ACROSS THE BOARD, WE ARE MOVING TOWARDS OUR GOAL OF GETTING 15,600 PEOPLE PLACED, WHICH IS THE ULTIMATE CHARGE. WE HOPE TO HAVE OVER THE NEXT FOUR TO FIVE MONTHS TO CROSS THAT 2,000 PEOPLE PLACED IN JOBS THRESHOLD, AND CONTINUE TO SEE THAT INCREASE IN A HOCKEY STICK SHAPE OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS. SO HERE IS THE TALENT PIPELINE, INDIVIDUALS COMING OUT, THAT FIRST COLUMN TO DATE IS REALLY WITHIN THE NEXT WEEK, THERE WILL BE 38 PEOPLE COMPLETING THEIR TRAINING IN HEALTHCARE, OVER 1200 OVER THE NEXT YEAR, 986 IN THE NEXT SIX MONTHS, AND SO FORTH AND SO ON, SO THAT PIPELINE IS CONTINUING TO BUILD VOLUME AS THE PROGRAM CONTINUES TO PRESS ALONG. CONNECTING PARTICIPANTS TO EMPLOYERS IS OUR NUMBER ONE GOAL, NUMBER ONE PRIORITY IN DOING THIS WORK. THERE'S A LOT OF INITIATIVES UNDERWAY IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT THAT HAPPENS. OF COURSE WORKING WITH OUR PARTNERS IN GETTING FEEDBACK IN FINDING HOW -- AUDIO] -- COMMUNITY WITH JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO, LIGHT CAST, SNOWFLAKE, GETTING JOB DATA ON WHAT THE POSTINGS LOOK LIKE IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD. PARTNERSHIP WITH GREATER SA TX AND SA WORKS. PIPELINE MANAGEMENT, PAY IT FORWARD INTERNSHIPS FOR WORK-BASED LEARNING, TALENT PIPELINE REPORTS, THE MAYOR'S MEETINGS AND I HAVEN'T EVEN MENTIONED OUR ADVISORY BOARD WHICH MEETS EVERY OTHER MONTH TO KEEP ON TOP OF IT. THANK YOU SO MUCH, COUNCILMEMBERS FOR ALLOWING US TO VENTURE INTO THAT SPACE, IT'S SO CRITICAL TO THE ENTIRE ECOSYSTEM IN HELPING LOCAL EMPLOYERS TO ABSORB TALENT AND EDUCATE AND INCREASE THE SKILLS OF TALENT. OVER 238 PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY BEEN TRAINED THROUGH ON-THE-JOB TRAINING, AVERAGE WAGE IS ABOUT $21.83. 48S TRAINED -- AUDIO] -- GOAL OF CREATING -- WE'VE CREATED NINE REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS THROUGH THE HELP OF THAT DEPARTMENT OF LABOR GRANT. OUR GOAL WAS EIGHT FOR A FOUR YEAR, WE'RE ABOUT TWO AND A HALF YEARS ROUGHLY INTO THE GRANT. WE'RE SUPER PROUD OF OUR TEAM FOR THAT WORK. WE'VE ALREADY EXCEEDED THAT. AGAIN, ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF LEFT TO GO ON THE GRANT. IN THE NEXT ROUND OF OJT, PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY SCHEDULED TO BE RELEASED LATER THIS MONTH. SO ONGOING COMMUNITY OUTREACH, OUR SAN ANTONIO HOUSING TRUST MOU, 64 EVENTS WILL OCCUR OVER A ONE-YEAR PERIOD. DEDICATED SPACE READY TO WORK AT HOUSING TRUST PROPERTIES, WHICH WE'RE EXTREMELY EXCITED ABOUT, BECAUSE THEY'RE PART OF OUR TARGET POPULATION. ANYTHING WE DO TO BRING READY TO WORK TO THEM WHERE THEY RESIDE IS GOING TO HELP US INCREASE THOSE NUMBERS OF INDIVIDUALS ENROLLED. JOB PAIR, FAIR, WE'VE HAD A COUPLE OF GREAT EVENTS, JUST GETTING PEOPLE AWARE OF HOW TO CONNECT WITH THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO AS AN EMPLOYER, WE'RE THE NUMBER ONE EMPLOYER FOR READY TO WORK STILL, AND ERIK IS VERY INTENTIONAL ABOUT MAKING SURE THAT CITY STAFF UNDERSTANDS [01:15:03] THE IMPORTANCE OF HIRING FROM THE READY TO WORK PROGRAM. UPCOMING ON NOVEMBER 6TH IN PARTNERSHIP, THE RED WHITE AND YOU MILITARY JOB FAIR AND NOVEMBER 13TH CONSTRUCTION AND TRADES DAY JOB FAIR AS A PART OF OUR APPRENTICESHIP WEEK. SO MARKETING, COMMUNICATION AND PR, CURRENT OUTREACH, PAID MEDIA, TV ADVERTISEMENTS, VIA BUS WRAPS, THERE'S BILLBOARDS AROUND, DIGITAL ADS RUNNING AROUND, RADIO ADS, STREET BANNERS AND HOLIDAY OPPORTUNITIES ARE COMING UP, THE ROTARY'S ICE RINK AT TRAVIS PARK, THANKSGIVING AND NEW YEAR'S EVENTS AS WELL. READY TO WORK HAS BEEN HIGHLIGHTED. WE'RE SPONSORING THURSDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, AND WE'RE ON GREAT DAY SA. THAT'S LAURIE ZAMORA UP THERE HELPING TO SPREAD THE WORD TO LOCAL EMPLOYERS AND PARTICIPANTS ABOUT THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE THROUGH THE PROGRAM. AND I'LL END MY PRESENTATION WITH ANOTHER POINT OF LIGHT. VONYA VEGA WHO STUDIED AT TAMUSA EARNING HER BACHELORS OF BUSINESS IN FINANCE, AND SHE LANDED A JOB WITH US AT THE CITY, THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT OFFICE, AND WE'RE HAPPY TO HAVE VONYA, SHE'S CURRENTLY STUDYING FOR HER MASTER'S DEGREE IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION. SHE'S A FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENT ATTENDING TAMUSA. AFTER HER SENIOR YEAR SHE DISCOVERED THAT THE PROGRAM PROVIDED GUIDANCE AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE. SHE RECEIVED FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IN FINISHING THAT DEGREE, AND SHE WORKS WITH US IN OUR FINANCE DEPARTMENT. IF YOU NOTICE THAT'S TWO BOOK ENDS, PEOPLE WITH DEGREES. YOU HEARD EDUCATIONAL TEAM IS ONE OF THOSE MARKERS THAT THEY LOOK AT, AND READY TO WORK IS HELPING US TO MOVE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. THAT COMPLETES MY PRESENTATION. >> PELAEZ: THANK YOU, CHAIR. >> CASTILLO: IN TERMS OF THE SUNSETTING OF THE PROGRAM, HAVE YOU ALL ESTABLISHED WHEN WE'LL NO LONGER ACCEPT APPLICATIONS? HAVE WE PLANNED THAT FAR AHEAD, AND IF SO, WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? >> SO WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT NOW. IT ALL DEPENDS ON THAT RATIO THAT I TALKED ABOUT, THE DEGREES VERSUS THE SHORT-TERM TRAINING. PROGRAMS LIKE CDL, WE CAN DO THAT A MONTH OUT BEFORE CLOSEOUT, HOWEVER A TWO-YEAR DEGREE OR A FOUR-YEAR DEGREE, WE'LL HAVE TO STOP ENROLLING THOSE PROGRAMS AT AN EARLIER TIME FRAME IN ORD DORORDER TO MAKE SURE THOSE INDIVIDUALS AREN'T LEFT WAITING TO COMPLETE THEIR PROGRAM. THE ORIGINAL PROJECTION RIGHT NOW IS A YEAR AWAY FROM THE SUNSET. WE STOP ENROLLING ANYONE THAT HAS MORE THAN A YEAR LEFT IN THE DEGREE PATHWAY. AND WHICH CAN CONTINUE THE SHORT-TERM PATHWAYS IN THAT. AS WE GET CLOSER TO THAT TIME, AND WE SEE WHAT THE SPIN RATE LOOKS LIKE, IT COULD BE ACCELERATED. WE COULD HAVE A MASS INFLUX OF INDIVIDUALS OVER THE NEXT YEAR OR TWO THAT SPEEDS THAT TIMELINE UP, IT BECOMES 28 OR 2027. SO WE HAVE TO BE MINDFUL OF THOSE EBBS AND FLOWS IN ENROLLMENT. . >> CASTILLO: IN TERMS OF THE DEMOGRAPHICS THAT Y'ALL HAVE LISTED, FOR EXAMPLE R TO THE JUSTICE-INVOLVED PARTICIPANTS, DO WE KNOW HOW MANY COMPLETED A PROGRAM. AND IF WE KNOW LIKE WHAT INDUSTRY FOLKS ARE INTERESTED IN. >> WE HAVE THAT DATA. I CAN SEND IT TO YOU AND YOUR STAFF. >> CASTILLO: THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL. ON THE DEMOGRAPHIC PAGE WITH THE AGE, I WANTED TO SHARE A STORY OF A RESIDENT THAT CAME IN, HER DWAWG DAUGHTER HAD WENT THROUGH PROJECT QUEST AND TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE. WE CONNECTED HER WITH THE BROCHURE AND ALL THE INFORMATION, AND I ASKED HER, I WAS LIKE, OH, ARE YOU BORED AT HOME? BECAUSE SHE'S RETIRED AND ALWAYS COMING TO OUR OFFICE, JUST VERY INVOLVED AND SHE JUST SHARED, THINGS ARE JUST GETTING SO EXPENSIVE THAT SHE'S THINKING ABOUT GETTING A NEW SKILL SET TO RETURNING BACK TO THE WORKFORCE. SO I'M GLAD THERE'S OPPORTUNITY FOR HER, RIGHT JUST HIGHLIGHTING THE FACT THAT OUR CONSTITUENTS ARE REALLY FEELING THE SQUEEZE WITH UTILITY RATES, GROCERIES AND SO MANY TAXES THAT THEY'RE HAVING TO GO BACK TO SEE WHERE THEY CAN GET RETRAINED. GRATEFUL THAT THERE'S SOMETHING AVAILABLE, BUT, YOU KNOW, THIS IS WHAT OUR CON CONSTITUENTS ARE NAVIGATING, JUST THAT PRESSURE. I WOULD BE WORRIED IF WE CONTINUE TO SEE THAT DEMOGRAPHIC GROW, BUT PLEASED THAT THERE'S SOMETHING IN PLACE. THOSE ARE ALL MY COMMENTS. THANK YOU, MIKE. THANK YOU, CHAIR. >> WHYTE: THANKS, CHAIR. JUST QUICK CLARIFICATION, HOW LONG DOES THE PROGRAM TAKE TO GET THROUGH? >> IT CAN TAKE ANYWHERE FROM FOUR WEEKS TO THREE YEARS. >> WHYTE: 77% WITHIN 12 MONTHS, THAT'S FROM THE DATE THAT THEY COMPLETE THE PROGRAM? [01:20:01] >> FROM THEY COMPLETED THEIR TRAINING, THAT'S CORRECT. >> WHYTE: OKAY. ALL RIGHT. HOW DO YOU GUYS MEASURE -- WHEN THEY GET A JOB -- WHEN SOMEBODY GOES THROUGH THE PROGRAM GETS A JOB, YOU KNOW, SAY FOUR OR FIVE MONTHS AFTER THEY'VE FINISHED THE PROGRAM, HOW DO YOU MEASURE OR DETERMINE WHETHER IT'S DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE TRAINING THEY GOT AT READY TO WORK? >> HOW DO YOU DETERMINE IF IT'S DIRECTEDLY RELATED? THAT THEY RECEIVED IT, WHAT FIELD IT IS, THE OCCUPATION ALIGNED TO THEIR TRAINING PROGRAM, THE FEEDBACK THAT WE GET FROM THAT PARTICIPANT AND THEIR CASE MANAGERS. >> WHYTE: OKAY. LAST TIME I THINK YOU WERE HERE, WE TALKED ABOUT THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES READY TO WORK WAS HAVING. AND I THINK FROM OUR INDIVIDUAL MEETING, ONE OF THE THINGS YOU TOLD ME WAS IT'S -- THE EMPLOYERS WERE NOT NECESSARILY LOOKING FOR THE APPLICANT POOL THAT WAS COMING THROUGH THE PROGRAM WASN'T MEETING WHAT THE EMPLOYERS WERE LOOKING FOR. IS THAT STILL A CHALLENGE NOW AND HOW ARE WE TRYING TO ADDRESS THAT? >> YEAH. I THINK THAT'S GOING TO BE A CONSTANT CHALLENGE. AS LONG AS THE PROGRAM IS AROUND, BECAUSE YOU THINK ABOUT THE STATE OF SAN ANTONIO, THERE'S HUGE ECONOMIC DISPARITIES THAT EXIST AND THE EMPLOYERS IN OUR LOCAL ECOSYSTEM HAVE A BIG PART TO PLAY IN SHIFTING THAT. SO YOU'VE GOT TALENT POOLS THAT DON'T COME FROM THE SAME BACKGROUNDS, THAT DON'T LOOK LIKE WHAT EMPLOYERS HAVE TYPICALLY BEEN HIRING FOR FOR CERTAIN ROLES, THEN IT'S GOING TO TAKE SOME TIME FOR US TO HELP THEM UNDERSTAND AND SEE THE VALUE IN SOME OF THESE HIDDEN TALENT POOLS. I'LL GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE. DEGREES, THERE'S CERTAIN OCCUPATIONS WITHIN THE I.T. SECTOR THAT OUR LOCAL EMPLOYER IS LOOKING FOR THAT FOUR-YEAR DEGREE FOR THAT INDIVIDUAL TO HAVE BEFORE THEY'LL EVEN ENTERTAIN THE FACT OF GIVING THEM AN INTERVIEW. PRT OF THE WORK WE'RE DOING, HE MAY NOT HAVE A FOUR-YEAR DEGREE, THEY'VE GOT A CREDENTIAL, THEY'VE PUT IN THE WORK, THEY'VE GOT THE APTITUDE TO GET THE WORK DONE, AND SHIFTING THAT MIND SET OF HAVING THAT ARTIFICIAL BARRIER THAT YOU HAVE TO HAVE A FOUR-YEAR DEGREE TO DO THAT WORK, SEEING THE POTENTIAL AND GIVING THEM AN OPPORTUNITY THAT. IS STILL A CHALLENGE, AND WE'RE FINDING MORE AND MORE EMPLOYERS BEING OPEN TO THE CONCEPT OF GIVING PEOPLE A CHANCE. >> WHYTE: AND WHAT ARE WE DOING TO FACILITATE THAT SO THAT WE GET SOME OF THESE NUMBERS, THE 59 AND THE 77%, HOW DO WE GET THOSE UP? >> IT'S A LOT OF WORK. CONVERSATIONS, ONE-ON-ONE CONVERSATIONS, CONVENING WITH EMPLOYER GROUP, SPEAKING WITH THEM ABOUT THE PIPELINE, TALKING ABOUT THE TALENT COMING OUT, SOME OF THE EXAMPLES THAT YOU SAW TODAY, CONTINUING TO MAKE SURE THAT THE CHAMBERS ARE WELL AWARE, SO THAT THEY CAN GET THEIR MEMBERSHIP ONBOARD AND JUST PICKING IT OFF ONE EMPLOYER AT A TIME, HELPING THEM TO EMBRACE THIS CONCEPT, REALIZING THAT THE EMPLOYER COMMUNITY PLAYS A HUGE ROLE IN THAT. >> WHYTE: AND IT OCCURS TO ME, YOU KNOW, WE JUST HAD THIS CONVERSATION WITH GREATER SA TX AND THE PIPELINE OF POTENTIALLY FOREIGN COMPANIES THAT ARE GOING TO COME HERE, IS THERE ANY COORDINATION THERE? DO WE EVER TALK WITH THEM AND SAY, HEY, XYZ COMPANY COULD BE COMING SO MAYBE AT READY TO WORK WE TRAIN SOME PEOPLE UP FOR THAT. >> ABSOLUTELY. CONVERSATIONS HAPPEN ALL THE TIME. IT'S THE REASON WHY B BERNIE'S AND I'S OFFICE ARE RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO EACH OTHER. OUR PARTNER OVER AT GREATER SATX ARE ALIGNED AT THE HIP, MAKING SURE THAT EMPLOYERS KNOW THAT READY TO WORK IS AN INVESTMENT THAT THE CITY IS MAKING THAT THE NUMBER ONE CONCERN THEY HAVE CAN BE MET. AND THE CITY IS HELPING TO GET THAT MET THROUGH READY TO WORK. >> WHYTE: THANKS. >> PELAEZ: COUNCILMAN WHYTE, WHEN I GOT TO SEE CHERYL AND SHIRLEY AT WORK, READY TO WORK WAS FRONT AND CENTER, IT WAS BEING ENTHUSIASTICALLY RECEIVED. COUNCILWOMAN ROCHA GARCIA? >> GARCIA: THANK YOU, CHAIR. AND THANK YOU TO MIKE AND THE TEAM AND FOR YOUR THOROUGH PRESENTATION. I FEEL LIKE WE HAVE REGULAR UPDATES, NOT ONLY ON THIS COMMITTEE, BUT I'M ON THE SUBCOMMITTEE, SO I FEEL LIKE I SEE THIS A LOT. I GO WANT TO REFERENCE, YOU MENTIONED EARLIER THE PROJECT QUEST STUDY. I WAS AT JURY DUTY THAT DAY SO I COULDN'T MAKE IT, BUT I KNOW MY COLLEAGUE COUNCILWOMAN CASTILLO WAS THERE, BUT THE STUDY FOUND WITH AN AVERAGE INVESTMENT OF EACH PARTICIPANT $16,000, THE PROGRAM HAS SEEN A 234% RIRN ON ITS INVESTMENT. AND I KNOW WE HAVE THE DASHBOARD AND IT SHOWS -- AND IT CHAIJS. CHANGES ALMOST LIKE WEEKLY. SO RIGHT NOW IT'S ABOUT $6,000 PER PARTICIPANT IS THE LAST TIME I CHECKED, BUT I WANTED TO REFERENCE THAT BECAUSE BEYOND THE NUMBERS THAT WE SEE, THOSE ARE LIVES CHANGING, THOSE ARE PEOPLE. AND SO I APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT IN THE [01:25:04] REPORT -- AND I'D HOPE THAT ONE DAY MAYBE THERE'S A REPORT ON READY TO WORK. AND SO IN THAT DOCUMENT, TABLE A-1 SHOWS A NUMBER OF -- KIND OF LIKE A COMPARISON BASELINE BETWEEN THE TREATMENT GROUP, OF COURSE, PROJECT QUEST AND THE -- SUBSIDIZED OR PUBLIC HOUSING, IT'S 15%. AND SO WHEN YOU BREAK IT DOWN INTO HOUSING STATUS, YOU SEE THAT 63% ARE RENTERS, RIGHT? AND SO I DON'T KNOW IF YOU ALL HAVE LOOKED AT THAT. I DIDN'T THINK SO BECAUSE, LIKE I SAID, I'VE BEEN INVOLVED IN THIS, BUT I THINK THAT'S ANOTHER WAY OF PUTTING IT, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT DEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING, BECAUSE WHEN WE CREATE WORKFORCE, WE HAVE TO CREATE THE HOUSING FOR WORKFORCE AS WELL. AND SO I FEEL LIKE THAT IS AN IMPERATIVE ITEM THAT I FEEL IS STILL MISSING. >> YEAH. >> GARCIA: MAYBE IN OUR READY TO WORK JUST OUTLOOK, I'LL CALL IT, RIGHT? AND SO THE OTHER ITEM THAT'S REFERENCED THERE IS SPECIFICALLY THE LIKELIHOOD OF RESIDENTS TO BE SUCCESSFUL ON THEIR OWN WITH OR WITHOUT THE PROGRAM, RIGHT? AND SO WHAT WAS THE ALTERNATIVE, RIGHT? DID PEOPLE HAVE A CHANCE TO EVEN MAKE IT, HAD THEY NOT BEEN ABLE TO GET ASSISTED BY TUITION. AND SO THAT BREAKDOWN, FOR INSTANCE IS THERE WITH QUEST AS WELL WITH HOW MUCH TUITION, ET CETERA. BUT THE OTHER ITEM I WANT TO POINT OUT IS THAT SECTOR-BASED TRAINING PROGRAM, THE NEED -- THAT THEY NEED TIME TO DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS AND EXPERTISE IN THE SECTOR. SO I FEEL LIKE Y'ALL ARE DEFINITELY DEVELOPING THOSE RELATIONSHIPS, BUT THE EXPERTISE IN THE SECTOR, I FEEL, CHANGES. AND SO, FOR INSTANCE, LAST WEEK I REFERENCED EARLIER I WAS AT THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT -- I THINK IT WAS LIKE A LITTLE HALF-DAY SUMMIT AT THE NORTH CHAMBER, AND SO THE TOP PROJECTED GROWTH WAS STILL AT 13%, I.T./CYBER. THE NEXT ONE WAS FINANCIAL SERVICES. WE HADN'T TALKED ABOUT FINANCIAL SERVICES IN A WHILE -- I'M SORRY, THE NEXT ONE WAS ADVANCED MANUFACTURING AND WE DID. BUT THE THIRD ONE WAS FINANCIAL SERVICES, AND WE HADN'T TALKED ABOUT HOW WE ACCESS FINANCIAL SERVICES. NOW, WITH THAT, THERE'S A MIX, BECAUSE SOMEBODY IN THE FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY ALSO EMPLOYS, FOR INSTANCE, I.T., SO I FEEL LIKE THERE MIGHT BE TWO IN ONE. HOW ARE WE SEPARATING THAT. I KNOW THAT'S A QUESTION FOR SOMEBODY ELSE, BUT IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT AS WELL, RIGHT? AND WHAT ARE WE DOING WHEN IT COMES TO THAT, LIKE IT COULD BE RETRAINING FOR A HOSPITAL, BUT IT'S I.T. RELATED, SO WHERE ARE WE COUNTING THESE PEOPLE? SO JUST, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING TO CONSIDER. I WANTED TO REFERENCE THAT BEFORE I GO ON, BUT SPECIFICALLY ALSO THE -- THAT STUDY SAYS ORGANIZATIONS NEED TIME TO BECOME SEEN BY EMPLOYERS AS A TRUSTED SOURCE OF WORKERS, PARTICULARLY IN FIELDS WHERE EMPLOYERS MAY OTHERWISE PREFER TO HIRE INDIVIDUALS WITH FOUR-YEAR DEGREES, RIGHT? AND SO THAT'S BACK TO THE POINT THAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT. AND SO PEOPLE CHOOSING FOUR-YEAR DEGREES VERSUS CHOOSING THAT SIX-WEEK, 18-MONTH TRAINING, WHATEVER IT IS. APPRECIATE THE CONVERSATIONS THAT WE ARE HAVING AT THE SUBCOMMITTEE LEVEL BECAUSE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THIS EVERY TIME, I FEEL. AND I ALSO -- JUST BEFORE I FORGET, I WANTED TO RECOGNIZE RYAN LORD FOR HIS EFFORTS -- >> YES. >> >> GARCIA: -- IN WHAT HE'S DOING. HE PROVIDES US REGULAR UPDATES WITH THE MARKET RG. THEY'RE DOING SO MUCH. I SEE READY TO WORK ALL OVER. THEY NEEDED TO HAVE A GRILLSGIVING. I LIKE THAT Y'ALL ARE TRACKING THAT DATA. I CAN PULL UP HOW MANY RESIDENTS FROM MY DISTRICT HAVE BEEN PLACED IN WORK, IN JOBS, AND SO I APPRECIATE THAT AS WELL. ONE OF THOSE CRITIQUES THAT WE HEARD EARLY ON WAS THAT LENGTH OF TIME, BUT FULLY ACKNOWLEDGING THAT THE LIKELIHOOD THAT THEY CHOSE THAT FOUR-YEAR, THAT'S KIND OF WHAT WAS GOING TO GIVE US THE WAIT AND SEE, I CALL IT, RIGHT? >> YEAH. >> GARCIA: SO IT WILL HAPPEN AS LONG AS THERE'S THAT WRAPAROUND SUPPORT, WHICH IS WHAT WAS -- WHAT IS SO SUCCESSFUL WITH PROJECT QUEST. SO I'M GLAD THAT YOU INCLUDE SLIDE 17, THE TALENT PIPELINE WITH THE ESTIMATED TIMELINE. I THINK THAT IT HELPS US KIND OF IN PROJECTING, RIGHT, WHEN PEOPLE ARE GOING TO COMPLETE THEIR TRAINING AND THEN LAND A JOB. I THINK WE WERE TALKING ABOUT IT EVEN IN REGARDS AS LIKE IT PERTAINS TO THE MARKETING FUNNEL, AND SO WHAT TYPE OF JOBS ARE [01:30:01] AVAILABLE. MAYBE WE CAN WORK ON DEVELOPING THE CURRENT JOBS AVAILABLE AND PROJECTED JOBS, AND SO, AGAIN, GOING BACK TO THE SLIDE THAT I'LL REFERENCE. I'LL SEND IT TO YOU FROM THE NORTH CHAMBER PRESENTATION. AND WHAT WE CAN DO TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE KIND OF -- IMBALANCE, RIGHT, IN THE NUMBER OR THE DIFFERENT COMPLETION RATES VERSUS -- YEAH, SEE I LOVE THIS ONE. ABSOLUTELY JUST HATE TO HAVE AN IMBALANCE IN THE JOB AVAILABILITY, ET CETERA, RIGHT? AND SO I'VE ALSO -- HOW CAN WE STREAMLINE THE PROCESS SO THAT THERE'S SOME MORE AVAILABILITY IN YOUR OPINION? IS THERE ANYONE THAT CAN MORE CLOSELY MONITOR THOSE VACANCIES OTHER THAN WAIT FOR THE REPORTS TO COME OUT? >> THE VACANCIES AS FAR AS JOB POSTINGS IN THE COMMUNITY. >> GARCIA: UH-HUH. >> WE HAVE ACCESS THROUGH THAT LICAST THAT I REFERENCED EARLIER IN THE PREVIOUS SLIDE. IT'S NOT EXACT, I'LL TELL YOU THAT, BECAUSE SOME JOB POSTINGS MAY HAVE 30 OPENINGS, 30 SLOTS FOR THAT POSTING. SO -- BUT IT GIVES YOU A GOOD BALLPARK FIGURE OF WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE FROM ACTUAL JOB POSTINGS IN THE LOCAL COMMUNITY. SO WE USE THAT TOOL, AND THAT TOOL ALSO FEEDS OUR READY TO WORK JOB BOARD SO WE CAN PUSH THOSE JOBS OUT TO OUR RESIDENTS. SO WE CAN DO, YOU KNOW, A REGULAR COUNT OF WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE ON -- AS FREQUENTLY AS YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT AS FAR AS JOB POSTINGS GO FROM THAT STANDPOINT. WE ALSO COLLECT THAT FEEDBACK, OF COURSE, FROM EMPLOYERS, YOU KNOW, IN WORKING WITH OUR PARTNERS AT GREATER SATX AND SA WORKS AS THEY CONVENE EMPLOYERS CONSTANTLY TOP OF CONVERSATION, WHO'S HIRING, WHAT ARE YOU HIRING FOR? WE CAN TAKE THOSE TWO DATA POINTS, OUR VISITS ONE-ON-ONE WITH THE COMPANIES OF TRYING TO GET A PICTURE OF WHAT'S HAPPENING IN EACH INDUSTRY AND OCCUPATION. >> GARCIA: WHAT HAPPENS -- TURNING OVER TO THE INDUSTRY, I KNOW WE MENTIONED PROJECTED QUEST, BUT THERE'S OTHER AGENCIES INVOLVED S THERE AN OPPORTUNITY TO AMEND THE CONTRACTS IF THERE'S AN INCREASE OR DECREASE IN PROJECT GOAL? AND THAT'S DRI DRIVEN BY US. >> YES. >> GARCIA: IS THAT A CONVERSATION THE BOARD HAS TO HAVE WITH -- LIKE WHO -- AT WHAT LEVEL DOES THAT -- >> MANY LEV LEVELS. THE BOARD IS A GREAT STARTING POINT FOR CONVERSATION. WE'VE GOT THE READY TO WORK ADVISORY BOARD, EWDC, THE FULL CITY COUNCIL AND THE MAYOR, AND OF COURSE THE CITY MANAGER, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER AND STAFF. >> GARCIA: MAYBE AN OFFLINE CONVERSATION, AND COUNCILWOMAN CASTILLO MENTIONED SOMETHING THAT REMINDED ME OF IT, RIGHT? SO I RECENTLY HAD A CONVERSATION WITH RESTORE EDUCATION, THEY WERE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHY THEIR NUMBERS MOVED, AND SO I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE, LIKE WHO MADE THAT DECISION, HOW IT'S MADE, HOW WE MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE NOT IMPACTED. SO TO MY UNDERSTANDING THEY WERE TOLD STOP ENROLLING, RIGHT? >> THAT IS CORRECT. >> GARCIA: BUT THAT KIND OF LEAVES THOSE PEOPLE WHO WERE READY TO WORK, A BIT EARLY OUT. AND SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE WE CAN DO BUT JUST -- >> I'M GLAD YOU BROUGHT IT UP. IT'S A GREAT TOPIC OF CONVERSATION. I'M HAPPY TO CLARIFY. >> GARCIA: YAY. >> WHEN WE INITIALLY CONTRACTED WITH OUR PARTNERS THEY EACH HAD A CAP FOR HOW MUCH CITY COUNCIL AUTHORIZED US TO SPEND WITH THEM DURING THE FIRST THREE-YEAR PERIOD. RESTORE EDUCATION -- FLYING THROUGH THEIR TARGET. THEY WEREN'T FLYING THROUGH ENROLLMENTS AND TARGETS, THEY WERE TAKING PEOPLE THROUGH THE INTAKE PROCESS, BUT THEY WEREN'T NECESSARILY ENROLLING THEM IN TRAINING. HAD SOME STAFFING ISSUES, THEY DIDN'T HAVE A COACH OR A CASE MANAGER TO ASSIGN THEM TO. SO THEIR ROLL SHIFTED TO JUST DOING INTAKE. SO IF THEY'RE ONLY DOING INTAKE, THEY'RE REFERRING THEM OVER TO OTHER PARTNERS, SO THEY WEREN'T READY TO WORK AND NOWHERE TO GO, THEY WERE GOING TO READY TO WORK WITHIN THE PROGRAM. SO ONCE THEY GOT THEIR CASE MANAGERS BACK ON BOARD, HEY, WE'RE READY TO START DOING MORE PEOPLE OVER IN CASE MANAGEMENT, BUT THEY HAD EXCEEDED THEIR INTAKE GOAL BY SO FAR, THAT THE THREE-YEAR VALUE OF THEIR CONTRACT WAS VERY CLOSE TO BEING EXHAUSTED. SO WE COULD HAVE SAID, HEY, YOU KNOW WHAT? WE'RE GOING TO GO BACK TO CITY COUNCIL AND SAY, WE'RE GOING TO GIVE -- LOOKED AT THEIR JOB PLACEMENT PERCENTAGE AND SAW THAT THEY WERE UNDER 50% IN GETTING PEOPLE PLACED IN JOBS WITHIN THAT SIX-MONTH TIME PERIOD, AND WE THOUGHT COUNCIL PROBABLY WOULDN'T BE TOO KEEN ON GIVING AN ORGANIZATION MORE MONEY THAT'S NOT REALLY PERFORMING AS FAR AS JOB PLACEMENTS GO. SO WE SAID, HEY, Y'ALL'VE GOT TO SLOW DOWN, STOP. YOU CAN INTAKE STILL, BUT ONLY TO THE PACE THAT'S GOING TO KEEP YOU WITHIN THE CONSTRAINTS OF YOUR CURRENT CONTRACT. SO WE'LL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY IN THE SPRING WHEN WE COME BACK BEFORE CITY COUNCIL AND WE BRING RESTORE AND ALL THE OTHER PARTNERS, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO GET THE ADDITIONAL YEARS THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE SERVING, BECAUSE NOW OUR TIMELINE'S PUSHED OUT TO 2029. AND WE'LL HAVE TO HAVE [01:35:02] THAT CONVERSATION AT THAT POINT IN TIME ABOUT RESTORE. >> GARCIA: THANK YOU FOR THAT THOROUGH ANSWER. BECAUSE AT THE EXPENSE OF OF OUR PARTNERS, WE STILL WANT TO SHOW THERE'S METRICS THAT NEED TO BE MET. WE HAVE ALL EYES ON US, AND SO IF WE ARE NOT PERFORMING, THEN WE HAVE MECHANISMS IN PLACE TO -- TO ADJUST, RIGHT, AND STILL SHOW WHAT WE'RE DOING. SO I APPRECIATE THAT. >> NO PROBLEM. I TOLD RESTORE, IF Y'ALL WERE KNOCKING IT OUT OF THE PARK, IT WOULD BE AN EASY CONVERSATION, BUT DIFFERENT. >> GARCIA: THANK YOU FOR VANIA FOR THE POINT OF LIGHT. I THINK SHE DOES EXEMPLIFY WHAT WE REPRESENT AND I'M SO GLAD WE'VE HIRED HER AT THE CITY. I KNOW THE CITY PUTS ITS MOUTH WHERE IT'S MONEY IS, BECAUSE WE'VE HIRED A REALLY HIGH AMOUNT OF PART PANTS. PARTICIPANTS. >> PELAEZ: THANK YOU FOR THOSE QUESTIONS. I THINK COUNCILWOMAN VIAGRAN IS NOT CONNECTED ANYMORE. I THINK THE GROUND I WANTED TO COVER HAS BEEN COVERED. YOU DID EXCELLENT WORK. I'M PROUD OF YOU GUYS. >> THANK YOU, SIR. >> PELAEZ: WE'RE ADJOURNED, FOLKS. * This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.